
Class J~T3 °l I 6 
Book / T^t - < 1_ 



L 



INDIAN BASKETRY 



These'pages are respectfully dedicated to 

OTIS T. MASON 

of the Smithsonian Institution, 

whose conscientious labors "reveal howjarge 

a debt the world 

owes to aboriginal^woman. 






Indian Basketry. 



WITH ?6o ILLUSTRATIONS. 



SECOND EDITION 

REVISED AND ENLARGED 

By George Wharton James 

AUTHOR OF 

IN AND^'AROUND THE GRAND CANYON— MISSIONS AND MISSION INDIANS 
OF CALIFORNIA— TOURISTS' GUIDE TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA- 
PICTURESQUE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA— SCENIC MOUNT 
LOWE— NATURE SERMONS, ETC., ETC. 



HENRY MALKAN, 

1 William Street, New York. 

1902. 




MONO BASK.:''--. A3 i . I'.\'.\''),\ , IVH WltUVIXG \SKET. 






CONTENTS. 

Preface 

I. Introduction i o 

II. Basketry, the Mother of Pottery 17 

JsLoj HI- Basketry in Indian Legend 22 

rl IV. Basketry in Indian Ceremonial 33 

V. Basket Making People . . . 50 

VI. Materials Used in Indian Basketry 72 

VII. Colors in Indian Basketry 88 

VIII. Weaves or Stitches of Indian Basketry 96 

IX. Basket Forms and Designs; Their Origin and Relation to Art 119 

X. Some Uses of Indian Baskets 145 

XI. Various Indian Baskets 169 

XII. Symbolism of Indian Basketry 187 

(a) Symbolism in Basketry Forms 191 

(b) Developement of Symbolism in Basket Designs 194 

(c) Imitation and Conventionalization 197 

(d) The Birth and Developement of Geometrical Designs 201 

(e) Diverse Meanings of Designs 206 

(f ) Designs of Animal Origin 208 

(g) Designs of Vegetable Origin 212 

(h) Designs of Natural Origin 213 

(i) Designs of Artifact Origin 215 

(j) Baskets With Mixed Designs 216 

XIII. The Poetry of Indian Basketry 218 

XIV. Baskets to be Prized 224 

XV. The Decadence of the Art 226 

XVI. How the Art may be Preserved 229 

XVII. Hints to the Collector 230 

XVIII. Bibliography of Indian Basketry 232 

Appendix 234 

Index 270 

HHHH 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Fig. Page. Fig. Page. 

Front, Mono Baskets and Woman 15. Baskets, Coll. of W. D. Campbell.. 21 

with Carrying Basket 4 16. Indian Baby Basket 22 

1. Havasupai WithKathak 12 ]7 . Cradle of Nevada Utes 22 

2. A Poma Basket Maker 9 18 . ]9- Hopi Basket and Weave 24 

3. Miss Kate Mabley's Collection — 11 20. Paiuti Water Bottle 24 

4. S. California Baskets 14 2 1." Carrying Basket of Hopis! .'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 25 

5. Choctaw Baskets of Cane 15 2 2. Hopi Basket of Yucca 26 

6. Havasupai Roasting Tray 17 2 3. Apache Basket Bottle 28 

7. Base-mould for Pottery 17 2 4. Poma Conical Basket 28 

J" 9 -^^°- tei ; y „r F ^ r T; •,;•,:• -^ -I:"" 11 2R - Havasupai Making Basket 29 

10. Original Method of Making Pottery 18 26 . Poma Pounding Acorns 30 

11. Base-mould for Coiled Pottery.... 19 27 Sacred Baskets of Navahoes, etc.. 32 

12. First Form of Vessel 19 2S . Yokut Baskets (Plimpton Coll.)... 32 

13. Secondary Form of Vessel 20 29. Navaho Sacred Basket 34 

14. Finished Vessel 20 30. Circle of Meal 35 



lUM 3 



Fig-. Page. 

31. Antelope Altar 38 

32. Do., Showing Kohonino Basket... 39 

33. Praying at Shrine 39 

34. Hopi Basket (Spider Web) 40 

35. Hopi Sacred Plaque 40 

36. Sprinkling Snakes With Meal 41 

37. Basket Throwers 43 

38. Priest Handing Offerings 43 

39. Dance of Basket Bearers 45 

40. Struggle for Baskets 45 

41. Yolo Ceremonial Basket 46 

42. Saboba Basket Maker 49 

43. Haida Weaver 51 

44. Bottle-neck Basket .'...... 48 

45-46. Alaska Baskets (Plimpton Coll.) 52 

47. Washington Weaver 54 

48. Mono Weaver 54 

49. Washington Weaver 55 

50. Ornamental Poma Baskets 56 

51. Fine Poma Basket 56 

52. Yokut Basket (Plimpton Coll.).... 58 

53. Poma Basket (Plimpton Coll.) 58 

54. Cahulla Basket Maker 60 

55. Merced Nolasquez. ......;.....,.. 60 

56. Dat-so-la-lee (Washoe) 62 

57. Baskets (Burnell Coll.) 64 

58. Yokut Baskets (McLeod Coll.).... 64 

59. Oraibi Basket Maker 65 

60. Hopi Yucca Basket , 65 

61. Hopi Sacred Plaque 65 

62. Wallapai Basket Maker..... 66 

63. Chemehuevi Basket 66 

64. Menominis Weaving Mat — 68 

65. Elm Splints 67 

66. Club or Mallet 67 

67. Menomini Kuife 69 

68. Coil of Splints 69 

69. Finished Menomini Basket 67 

69a\ Yokut Girl Weavers 70 

70. .Cahuillas Collecting Material 71 

71. Slipper Form of Baby Cradle...... 70 

72. Cahuilla Coiled Baskets, etc 73 

73. Fine California Baskets 74 

74. Portion of the Plimpton Coll 75 

75. Apache and Pima Baskets 76 

76-77. Poma Baskets (Plimpton Coll.) 78 

78. Klamath Tray, etc 77 

79. Yokut and Poma Baskets 

(Campbell Coll.) 80 

80. Yokut Dance and Other Baskets 82 

81. Hopi and Havasupai Baskets 83 

82. Apache and Pima Bowls, etc 84 

83-84. Bone Awls 86 

85. Oraibi Yucca Basket 87 

86. Yokut Basket 92 

87. Yokut Basket (Plimpton Coll.).... 92 

88. Pshu Kan, or Fish Net 94 

S9. Bam-tush Weave 95 

90. Bam-Tush Granary and 

Shi-Bu Tray 97 

91. North Coast Basket 97 

92. Shu-Set and Ti Weaves 98 

93. Poma Basket Material 99 

94. Baskets in Wilcomb Collection.. 100 

95. Shi-Bu Weaves 100 

96. Poma Shi-Bu 101 

97. Poma Tsai and Bam-tsu-wu 102 

98 to 102. Poma Ornamental Shibu....l03 

. 103. Yokut, Poma and 

Eel River Baskets.. 104 

104. Pauma Granary, etc 105 

105. Apache Basket (Plimpton Coll.).. 106 

106. Apache Water Bottle 106 

107. Hopi Weaver.. 108 

108. Kuch-ye-amp-si, Hopi Weaver... 109 



Fig. Page. 

109. Inch Weave of Hopi Tray 110 

110. Basket and Lid from Egypt Ill 

111. Square Inch of Fig. 110 110 

112. Qnornamented Oraibi Plaque 112 

113. One Inch of Fig. 112 112 

114. Oraibi Sacred Meal Tray 113 

115. Hopi Carrying Basket 114 

117. Zuni Carrying- Basket 115 

118. Seminole Basket 115 

119. Washoe Basket 116 

120. Pima Basket (Plimpton Coll.).... 117 
.121. California Basket (do.) 117 

122. So'n Cal. Basket, Used as Drum 118 
122a. Bottle-Neck Basket. (McLeod Col- 
lection) .'. 118 

123. Southern California Baskets 119 

124. Pueblo Sleeping Mat 120 

125. Havasupai Water Bottle 120 

126. Yakima Basket 121 

127-8-9. Simple Weaves (One Color)... 122 

130. Herring Bone Effect 123 

131. Elaboration, Herring Bone Effect 123 

132. Peruvian Work Basket 124 

133. Simple Twined Weave 123 

134. Clallam Carrying Basket 125 

135-6-7. Various Surface Effects 126 

138. Open Work Tray (Klamath) 127 

139. Klamath Carrying Basket 127 

140. Simple Reticulated Weave 128 

141. Simple Variations 128 

142. Further Variation 128 

143! Apache Basket With Pendants... 129 

144. Cal. Basket With Pendants 129 

145-6. Use of Colored Strands 130 

147. Isolated Figures 130 

148. Alternations of Fillets. 131 

149. Conventional Human Figures..... 131 

150. Base of Coiled Basket 132 

151. Coiled Northwest Basket.......... 132 

152. Yokut Basket Ib3 

153. Pima Basket ',... 133 

154. Pima Coiled Basket 134 

155. McCloud Carrying Basket 136 

156. Apache Coiled Basket.... ,. 135 

157. Oraibi Sacred Tray 136 

158. Oraibi Do 137 

159. Light Fillets Wrapped 138 

160. Klamath Work. 138 

161-2. Ornamental California Baskets 139 

163. Conventional Figures 140 

164. Figures on Yokut Basket 139 

165. Human Figure on Oraibi Tray... 140 

166. Figure of Bird on Hopi Tray 142 

167. Do. on Oraibi Tray 142 

167a. Yokut Woman Carrying Load of 

BYuit 143 

168. Tule Weaver Using Sifter 144 

169. Granaries of S. Cal. Indians 144 

170. Cahuilla, Saboba, etc., Baskets.. 145 

171. Primitive Fish Weir 146 

172. Basket of Thompson Indians 147 

173. Poma With Wood Basket 148 

174. Zuni Toy Cradle and Doll 14» 

175. Poma Mother With Child 150 

176. Poma Woman With 

Carrying Basket 150 

177-8-9. Hupa Cradle Basket 151 

180-1. Pyramid Lake Ute Cradle 161 

182-3-4. Hopi Wicker Cradles 152 

185-6-7. Siamese Carrying Basket 153 

188-9. Carrying Basket of Arikarees.. 153" 

190-1-2. Choctaw Carrying Basket 154 

193-4-5. Conical Carrying Basket 154 

196-7. Mc Cloud Do 155- 

198. Poma Carrying Wood 156 



Fig. Page. 

199. Hupa Forehead Pad 155 

200-1-2. Paiuti Seed Basket and Wand 156 

203. Washoe Water Bottle 157 

204. Washoe Food Basket 15? 

205-6. Carrying Nets 158 

207-8. Apache Carrying Basket 157 

209-10. Hopi or Zuni Carrying Crate... 159 

211-12. Diegeno Carrying Basket 159 

213-14. Mohave Carrying Basket 160 

215. Congo Carrying Basket 161 

216. Zuni Basket Water Bottle 161 

217. Navaho Do 160 

218. Havasupai Boiling Basket 162 

219-20-21. Manufacture of Spirally 

Coiled Weaves 162 

222. Method of Making Havasupai 

Water Bottles 163 

223-4. Pueblo Carrying Mats 163 

225. Using Do 163 

226. Hopi House Interior 164 

227. Saucer Shaped Basket 165 

228. Ornamented Apache Bowl 166 

229-30. Point Barrow Baskets 167 

231. Large Granary 168 

232. Klamath Twined Basket 169 

233. Square Inch of Fig. 232 170 

234. Hoochnom Coiled Basket 171 

235. Square Inch of 234 170 

236. Yokut Basket Bowl 171 

237. Cahuilla Do 173 

238. Square Inch of Fig. 237 172 

239. Inside View of Fig. 237 174 

240. Cahuilla Basket Bowl 174 

241. Coiled Jar (Zuni) 173 

242. Square Inch of Fig. 241..' 175 

243. Pima Basket Bowl 176 

244. Pima Basket (Lightning Symbols) 176 

245. Do. (Greek Design) 175 

246. Apache Basket Bowl 177 

247. Garotero Apache Bowl 177 

248. Paiuti Mush Basket 177 

249. Paiuti Basket 178- 

250. Ute Basket Hat 179 

251. Square Inch of Fig. 250 178 

252. Paiuti Roasting Tray ISO 

253. Paiuti Carrying Basket 180 

254. Paiuti Harvesting Wand 181 

255. Makah Basketry 181 

256-7-8. Makah Bottle Basket 182 

259. Clallam Bird Cage Weave 183 

260. Clallam Carrying Basket 1S4 

261. Square Inch of Fig. 260 183 

262. Makah Trinket Basket 1S4 

263. Square Inch of Fig. 262 185 

264. Angola Carrying Crate 185 

265. Haida Hat 1S5 

266. Do 186 

267. Do., Before Painting 186 

268. Basket Used in Dice Games 185 

269. Do 223 

270. Yokut Heart-Shaped Basket. 188 

271. Baskets Depicting Human 

Figures 188 

272. S. Cal. Baskets 190 

273. Cahuilla Baskets 190 

274. Baskets Spoiled by Vicious 

Imitation 192 

275. Yokut Basket with Crosses 192 

276-7-8. Typical Basket Decorations.. 193 

279-280. Do 195 

281-282. Pottery Designs 196 

284. Pottery Design from Basketry... 198 
285-6. Salish Design 198 

287. Hartt's Fret Theory 199 

288. Hartt's Scroll Theory 202 



Fig. - Page. 

289. . Scrolls on Pottery 199 

290. Pottery Scroll on Basketry 202 

291. Fret of Pottery 199 

292. Havasupai Design 203 

293-4. Amazon Fret and Zigzag 203 

295. Geometrical Spiral on Apache 

Basket 204 

296. Do. on Pottery | 205 

297. Baskets in Campbell Collection.. 207 

298. Salish Basketry 207 

299. Salish Basketry 208 

300. Tree and Branch Design 208 

301. Mescal Design 208 

302. Fish and Leaf Design 208 

303. Worm Track Design 208 

304. Da-so-la-le's Masterpiece 209 

305. Poetic Saboba Design 217 

306. Design of Flying Bats 217 

307. Ramona and Star Basket 221 

30S. Wainwright Collection 221 

309. Fish Teeth Design 234 

310. Earthworm Design 2§4 

311. Quail Design 236 

312. Flying Geese Design 235 

313. Duck's Wing Design 236 

314. Millipede Design 236 

315. Raccoon Design 236 

316. Grasshopper Design 236 

317. Bye Design... 237 

318. Flower Design 237 

319. Brake Design 238 

320. Brake Design 238 

321. Vine Design 238 

322. Pine Cone Design 238 

323. Bush Design 239 

324. Feather Design 239 

325. Feather Design 240 

326. Feather Design 239 

327. Feather Design 240 

328. Arrow Point Design 240 

329. Arrow Point Design 241 

330. Mountains and Clouds Design.. 241 

331. Cahuilla Weaver :.... 242 

332. Pima Weaver 243 

333. Pima Baskets (Benham Coll.)... 243 

334. Apache Baskets (Benham Coll.) 245 

335. Apache Basket (Benham Coll.) 245 

336. Pima, Apache and Paiuti 

Baskets (Benham Coll.) 246 

337. Various Baskets in 

Benham Coll 246 

338. Baskets (mostly Oraibi) 

(Benham Coll.) 246 

339. California Baskets 

(Benham Coll.) 248 

340. Dat-so-la-le 248 

342. Mono Flour Sifters 252 

343. Mono Baskets 253 

344. Mono Mush Baskets 252 

345. Mono Baskets (Rattlesnake 

Design) 254 

346. Hill Collection 256 

348. Aleut Baskets (Frohman Coll.).. 258 

349. Yakutat Baskets (Frohman 

Coll.) 260 

350. Calif. Baskets (Frohman Coll.).. 262 

351. Yokut. Klikitat, Haida and 

Aleut Baskets (Frohman Coll.) 262 

322. Potlach Hats (Frohman Coll.)... 262 

353. Klikitat Weavers 8 

354. Skokomish Baskets (Frohman 

Coll.) 264 

355. Thompson River Baskets 

(Frohman Coll.) 264 

356. Baby Baskets 265 

357. Various Baskets (Frohman 

Coll.) 265 

358. California Baskets (Frohman 

Coll.) 266 

359. Various Baskets (Frohman 

Coll.) 268 

360. Mehesy's Store 277 

361. Mehesv's Store 279 



PREFACE. 

What would be the civilized man of to-day without the art of 
weaving'— the soft art that surrounds his home with comforts and 
his life with luxuries? Nay he deems them necessities. Could he do 
without his woven woollen or cotton underwear, his woven socks, 
his woven clothing? Where would be his bed linen and blankets, 
his carpets, his curtains, his portieres? His every day life is so inti- 
mately associated with weaving that he has ceased to think about it, 
and yet it is all owing to the work of primitive, aboriginal woman 
that he is thus favored. For there is not a weave of any kind, no matter 
how intricate or involved, that the finest looms of England or America 
produce to-day under the direction of the highest mechanical genius, 
that was not handed down to us, not in crude form, but as perfect 
as we now find it, by our savage ancestry in their basketry and kindred 
work. 




FIG. 



A POMA BASKET MAKER AT WORK. 



Interest in the arts and industries of our aboriginal tribes has grown 
so rapidly in recent years, that whereas, twenty years ago, illustrative 
collections of the products of these arts and industries were confined 
to the museums of scientific societies, to-day they are to be found in 
scores of private homes. This popular interest has created a demand 
for knowledge as to the peoples whose arts these collections illustrate, 
and of the customs, — social, tribal, medicinal, religious, — in which the 
products of their arts are used. 

One of the most common and useful of the domestic arts of the 
Amerind* is that of basketry. It is primitive in the extreme, is uni- 
versal, both as to time and location, and as far as we know has changed 
comparatively little since the days of its introduction. It touches the 



*This is a new coinage by Major J. W. Powell, of the U. S. Bureau 
of Ethnology, to designate the North American aborigine. 



10 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

Amerind at all points of his life from the cradle to the grave, and its 
products are used in every function, domestic, social and religious, 
of his simple civilization. 

To give a little of such knowledge as the intelligent collector of 
Indian baskets desires to possess is the purpose of this unpretentious 
book. 

Its field is limited to the Indians of the South-west, the Pacific 
States and Alaska. It is an incomplete pioneer in an unoccupied field 
of popular literature, and later writers will doubtless be able to add 
much, and correct more. It is the result of twenty years personal 
observation and study among the Indians of our South-west, much 
correspondence and questioning of authorities, and the reading and 
culling from every known source of information. Everything that I 
could find that seemed reliable has been taxed. Necessarily, no one 
individual could possibly describe, with accuracy, the basketry of 
this extensive territory unless he were prepared to travel over the 
vast regions of the North-west and South-west, and personally visit 
each tribe of basket-makers, watch them gather the grasses, collect 
the dyes, prepare both for use, dye the materials, and go through all 
the labor of weaving, then study the symbolism of the designs, learn 
all about the ancient methods of manufacture, and, finally, visit all 
family, social and ceremonial functions where baskets are used. 

Hence, it is evident that such a work must be, as this confessedly 
is, largely a compilation. 

If collectors find it at all helpful or suggestive ; if it aids in popu 
larizing knowledge on these interesting products of our aboriginal 
peoples, and leads to a study of the peoples themselves I shall be more 
than repaid for the time and labor expended in its production. 

For material aid, I wish most cordially to thank Major J. W. 
Powell, Dr. J. Walter Fewkes and Professor F. W. Hodge, of the 
U. S. Bureau of Ethnology, and the Hon. S. P. Langley, Professors 
Otis T. Mason, W. H. Holmes and Dr. Walter Hough, of the Smith- 
sonian Institution, together with Dr. J. W. Hudson, of Ukiah, Cal., 
and Rev. W. C. Curtis, of Norwalk, Conn. 

The engravings of the Government have been placed at my disposal, 
and many of the detailed descriptions of the baskets are taken verbatim 
from Professor Mason's papers which appear in the reports of the. 
Smithsonian Institution. 

My thanks are also extended to Mr. W. W. Newell, of the American 
Folk Lore Society, Dr. J. H. Kellogg, Editor of Good Health, Apple- 
ton's Popular Science Monthly, and the Traveler, San Francisco, for 
the use of cuts and especially to F. S. Plimpton, Esq., of San Diego, 
Cal., who has kindly made it possible for me to illustrate several most 
interesting specimens of his excellent collection. 




PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. 



INTRODUCTION. 



II 



CHAPTER I. 
INTRODUCTION. 
A few hundred years ago our own ancestors were "aborigines,"— 
they wore skins for clothes ; wove baskets ; lived in wicker and skin 
huts or in caves ; ate nuts, herbs, acorns, roots and depended upon 
the fortunes of the chase for their meats, just as the Amerind of the 
present and past generations are doing and have done. Hence, as 
Indian baskets are woven by human beings, akin to ourselves, and 
are used by them in a variety of relations of intensely human interest, 
we are studying humanity under its earliest and simplest phases, 
such phases as were probably manifested in our own ancestral history 
— when we intelligently study Indian Basketry. 

The earliest vessels used bv mankind undoubtedly were shells, 
broken gourds or other natural receptacles that presented themselves 




FIG. 



COLLECTION OF Ml KB KATE MABLEY OF DETROIT. 
MADE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



opportunely to the needs of the aborigine. As his intelligence grew 
and he moved from place to place, the gourd as a receptacle for water 
when he crossed the hot and desert regions became a necessary com- 
panion. But accidents doubtless would happen to the fragile vessel 
and then the suggestion of strengthening it by means of fiber nets 
arose and the first step towards basket-making was taken. It is easy 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




INTRODUCTION. 



t3 



to conceive how the breakage of a gourd thus surrounded by a rude 
sustaining or carrying net led to the independent use of the net after 
the removal of the broken pieces, and thus nets ultimately would be 
made for carrying purposes without reference to any other vehicle. 
Weaving once begun, no matter how rough or crude, improvement 
wis bound to follow, and hence, the origin of the basket. 

In Indian basketry we may look and find instruction as_ to the 
higher development of our primitive people. There is no question that 
baskets preceded pottery-making and the close and fine weaving of tex- 
tures, so the ethnologist finds in "the progressive steps of their manu- 
facture a preparatory training for pottery, weaving and other primitive 

arts." 

Basket-making- was a common industry with all the Indians of the 
American Continent. In the North, baskets were, and still are, made, 
ana we know of their manufacture by the Indians of Carolina, Virginia, 
Georgia and Lousisiana. Baskets have also been found among the 
remains of the Mound Builders. In the ruins of Southern Colorado 
and that interesting region of Arizona and New Mexico, some of the 
prehistoiic graves contain so many baskets as to give their occupants 
the name of "The Basket Makers." 

"There are no savages on earth so rude that they have no form of 
basketrv. The birds and beasts are basket-makers, and some fishes 
construct for themselves little retreats where they may hide. Long 
before the fire-maker, the potter, or even the cook, came the mothers 
of the Fates, spinning threads, drawing them out and cutting them 
off. Coarse basketry or matting is found charred in very ancient 
sepulchers. With few exceptions women, the wide world over, are the 
basket-makers, netters and weavers."— Otis T. Mason. 

Of the antiquity of baskets there can be little doubt. Col. James 
Jackson, U. S. A., says: 

"Pottery making and basket weaving are as old as the human race. 
As far back as there are any relics of humanity are found the traces 
of these industries, supplying no doubt a very positive human need. 
From the graves of the mound builders, from Etruscan tombs — far 
beyond the dawn of Roman power— from the ruins of Cyclopean con- 
struction, Chaldean antiquities and from Egyptian catacombs come 
the evidences of their manufacture. Aboriginal occupation of the 
American continents seems to be as old, if not older, than that of either 
Europe or Asia, and when we look upon the baskets and pottery 
gathered here we behold the results of an industry that originated 
in the very dawn of human 'existence and has been continued with but 
• little change down to the present time. Our word basket has itself 
changed but little from its original, the Welsh "basgawd" meaning 
literally a weaving or putting together of splinters. The ancient 
Welsh, or Britons, were expert basket makers, and Roman annals 
tell us'that the halls of wealthy Roman citizens were decorated with 
the beautiful and costly produce of their handiwork. Made from what- 
ever substances were most appropriate or convenient they have been 
shaped by the needs and decorated by the fancy or superstitions of 
barbaric or semi-civilized peoples, and have served all purposes from 
plates to dwelling houses." 

"Among primitive arts, basketry also furnishes the most striking 
illustration of the inventive genius, fertility of resource and almost 



H 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



incredible patience of the Indian woman. They collected the fuel, 
gathered the stores of acorns, mesquite and other wild seeds; they 
dried the grasshoppers for winter use. In times of scarcity they 
searched every hiding of fat grub or toothsome bulb ; or with a tough 
stick drove the angle worms from their holes and with the addition of 
a few wild onions and acorn flour converted the mess into an appe- 
tizing soup. They made petticoats of title and other wild grasses for 
summer use, and winter garments of rabbit and squirrel skins. And 
while all these accomplishments added to the market value of the 
women, it was invariably the most expert in basketry who brought 
the highest price, viz. : two strings of shell money, or one hundred 
dollars." — Mrs. Jeanne C. Carr. 

Indian basketry is almost entirely the work of Indian women, and, 
therefore, its study necessarily leads us into the sanctum-sanctorum 




PIG. 4. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BASKETS. 

of feminine Indian life. The thought of the woman, the art develop- 
ment, the acquirement of skill, the appreciation of color, the utilization 
of crude material for her purposes, the labor of gathering the mate- 
rials, the objects she had in view in the manufacture of her baskets, 
the methods she followed to attain those objects, her failures, her 
successes, her conception of art, her more or less successful attempts 
to imitate the striking objects of Nature with which she came in con- 
tact, the aesthetic qualities of mind that led her to desire to thus repro- 



INTRODUCTION. 



15 



duce or imitate Nature— all these, and a thousand other things in the 
Indian woman's life, are discoverable in an intelligent study of Indian 
basketry. 

One has but to study the history of all industrial, as distinguished 
from military, occupations, to see how honored a position woman has 
won by her indomitable energy, constant industry and keen witted- 
ness. Those fools of the male sex who sneer at the "uselessness of 
woman" merely reveal their supernal ignorance of what man owes to 
woman in the industrial arts and sciences. Her work, from the very 
earliest ages of human history, has tended towards the health, the 
comfort, the knowledge and the culture of mankind. She has not been 
merely the wife, the mother, the nurse of man, but the teacher in many 
arts which man now proudly and haughtily claims as his own "sphere." 

And one of the foremost of these industrial arts is that of weaving — 
purely a product of woman's wit and skill. As Dr. Otis T. Mason has 




FIG. 5. CHOCTAW BASKETS OF CANE. COLLECTION OF MRS. MARCUS BENJAMIIN 

eloquently written : "A careful study of the homely occupations of 
savage women is the best guide to their share in creating the aesthetic 
arts. Whether in the two Americas, or in the heart of Africa, or among 
the' peoples of Oceania, the perpetual astonishment is not the lack of 
?rt, but the superabundance of it." 

"Call to mind tMk exquisite sewing of the Eskimo woman with 
sinew thread and needle of bone, or the wonderful basketry of all the 



It) INDIAN BASKETRY. 

American tribes, the' bark work of Polynesia, the loom work of Africa, 
the pottery of the Pueblos, of Central America and Peru. Compare 
these with the artistic productions of our present generation of girls 
and women at their homes. I assure you the comparison is not 
in favor of the laborers' daughters, but of the daughters and wives of 
the degraded savage. In painting, dyeing, moulding, modelling, 
weaving and embroidering, in the origination first of geometric pat- 
terns and then of freehand drawing, savage women, primitive women, 
have won their title to our highest admiration." 

Compare the basketry of women with that of men. Go into any 
basket shop of the modern civilized world and pick up the ugly and 
homely, though useful, objects called baskets, and place them side 
by side with the products of the savage woman's art and skill. Every 
lover of beautiful work, of artistic form, beautiful design and delicate 
color cannot fail to be struck with the highest admiration at the sight 
of the latter, while the former are tolerated only for their usefulness. 

To the uninitiated a fine Indian basket may posses a few exterior 
attractions, such as shapely form, delicate color and harmonious 
design, but anything further he cannot see. On the other hand the 
initiated sees a work of love ; a striving after the ideal ; a reverent 
propitiation of supernatural powers, good or evil ; a nation's art ex- 
pression, a people's inner life of poetry, art, religion; and thus he 
comes to a closer knowledge of the people it represents, a deeper 
sympathy with them ; a fuller recognition of the oneness of human life, 
though under so many and diverse manifestations. Fine baskets, to the 
older Indian women, were their poems, their paintings, their sculpture, 
their cathedrals, their music; and the civilized world is just learning 
the first lessons of the a/boriginal melodies and harmonies in these 
wicker-work masterpieces.. 

What Victor Hugo strikingly expressed about the cathedrals of 
Europe when he exclaimed "The book has killed the building !" could 
be truthfully applied to the Indian in the expression "Civilization 
has killed the basket." For as the Indian woman finds that she can 
purchase for a few cents the pans, pots and kettles used by her civilized 
sister she loses the desire to spend weary days, and even months, in 
making the baskets, which, in the past, served alone as her domestic 
utensils. Consequently basket making as a fine art among the 
aborigines is rapidly dying out. True, there are' still many baskets 
made, and on a recent trip to the High Sierras of California I 
found a number of first-class basket makers at work, and, more pleasing 
still, some of the young girls were learning the art. But in almost 
every case the basket maker of to-day is dominated by a rude commer- 
cialism rather than by the desire to make a basket which shall be her 
best prized household treasure as the highest expression of which 
she is capable of the art instinct within her. Hence the rage for old 
baskets. A true collector does not wish a basket made to sell, and 
as the old baskets were comparatively limited in number, the oppor- 
tunity to secure them is rapidly passing away, if it has not already 
disappeared. By this, of course, I do not mean that old baskets may 
not be purchased. Collections now and then are for sale, which are 
rich in rare old specimens of the weaver's art; and occasionally, but, 
now, alas, very occasionally, the indefatigable collector may pick up 
an ancient basket in some far-away Indian hut. 



BASKETRY THE MOTHER OF POTTERY. 



17 



CHAPTER II. 
BASKETRY THE MOTHER OF POTTERY. 

That the art of basketry antedates the art of pottery is generally 
conceded. In an interesting monograph published in the reports of 
the Bureau of Ethnology, Mr. dishing urges that pottery was sug- 




FIG. 6. HAVASUPAI CLAY-LINED ROASTING-TRAY. 

gested by the clay lined basketry of the Havasupai Indians in Arizona. 
In 1887, when he visited them, he found them doing the cooking of 
•their seeds, mush, meat, etc., in wicker baskets lined with sandy clay, 
and thus describes the method followed : 




FIG. 7 BASKET-BOWL AS BASE-MOULD FOR POTTERY. 



"A round basket tray, either loosely or closely woven, is evidently 
coated inside with clay, into which has been kneaded a very large 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



proportion of sand, to prevent contraction and consequent cracking 
from drying. This lining of clay is pressed into the basket as closely 
as possible with hands, and then allowed to dry. See Fig. 6. The 
tray is thus made ready for use. The seeds or other substances to 
be parched are placed inside of it, together with a quantity of glowing 
wood coals. The operator, quickly squatting, grasps the tray at 
opposite edges, and by a rapid spiral motion up and down, succeeds in 
keeping the seeds and coals constantly shifting places, and turning over 
as they dance after one another around and around the tray, mean- 
while blowing or puffing the embers with every breath to keep them 
free from ashes and glowing at their hottest." 

A few years later when I '.made my first visits to the Havasupais 
I found the same methods still in vogue. It is readily apparent that 
the constant heating of the clay lining would cause it to grow hard, 
and instances would occur when it would become detached from the 
wicker work and a perfect earthen roasting vessel be produced. The 
occasional production of such a vessel, suitable in all ways and for all 
uses in cookery, would suggest the manufacture of similar serviceable 
utensils. 

Professor Holmes says : "The clay vessel is an intruder, and 
usurps the place and appropriates the dress of its predecessor in 
wicker. The forms illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 are clay forms, common 
with South Western Indians, and are undoubtedly taken from basketry 
shapes as illustrated in the water bottles and carrying baskets, shown 
elsewhere." 




FIG. S. 



FIG. 9. 



FIG. 10. 



That basketry was intimately connected with two distinct methods 
of pottery-making is proven by the clearest evidence. In the Miss- 
issippi Valley, in Arizona, New Mexico and elsewhere in the United 
States thousands of pieces of pottery have been found which unmis- 
takably show that the soft clay was modelled around the outside or 
within some basket form which gave the shape of the vessel. In all 
the museums these specimens of pottery may be found. It will be 
observed in studying them that they bear far more impressions of 
basketry and other textile arts than of natural objects, such as gourds, 
shells, etc. It is also observable that every basketry stitch or pattern 
known to the aborigines is found in these pottery impressions. Hence 
the natural inferences that basketry antedates pottery, and that the art 
of basket-making was in an advanced stage whilst pottery was still 
in its infancy. 

How fascinating the work of the antiquarian and archaeologist. To 
pick up even the fragments of the pottery of a long past age, brush 
off the accumulated dirt and read thereupon the relation its manu- 



BASKETRY THE MOTHER OP POTTERY. 



l 9 



facture bore to a sister art, and then, slowly but surely, to decipher 
every method followed by primitive artist-; to tell how spinner, weaver, 
net maker worked, and with what materials, and then to discover that 
every stitch of plain weaving, diaper weaving, twined weaving and 
coiled weaving known to modern art was used by these ignorant and 
savage people of the dark ages. 

Mr. Cushing thus describes the process of manufacture as he saw 
it carried on, and as I have seen it again and again, at Zuni, Laguna, 
Acoma and the Hopi pueblos. 

Forming a rope of soft clay, she coiled it upon a center, to form the 
bottom. Placing it upon an inverted food-basket, bowl-shaped, she 
pressed the coils of clay closely together, one upon the other (Fig. 10), 
and as soon as the desired size was attained, loosened the bowl from 
the basket and thus provided herself with a new utensil. In conse- 
quence of the difficulty experienced in removing these bowl-forms 
from the bottom of the baskets — which had to be done while they 
were still plastic, to keep them from cracking — they were very shallow. 
Hence the specimens found among the older ruins and graves are not 
only corrugated outside, but are also very wide in proportion to their 
height. 




PIG. 11. BASKET BASE MOLD 
FOR COILED POTTERY. 



FIG. 



12. FIRST FORM OF 
THE VESSEL. 



The other primitive method followed was one that is still practiced 
by all the pottery makers of the South-west. It is an imitation of 
basketry methods ; not a moulding upon baskets, but an application 
of coiled methods of weaving to the manufacture of pottery. Just as 
the basket weaver wraps one coil upon another, so does the pottery 
maker take her rope of clay and coil it up as shown in Fig. n. 

By and by the desire for ornamentation of pottery arose, and from 
this sprang the discovery of the fact that, while the clay was plastic, 
the exterior of the vessel could be smoothed with a spatula of bone 
or gourd, no matter what its size, if supported at the bottom in a 
basket or other mold so that it could be shifted or turned about without 
direct handling. See Fig. 7. 

To smooth such a vessel inside and out required that it have a wide 
mouth, but, by and by, the potter determined that the mouth must 
be contracted as much water was spilled in carrying the full ol'la from 
the spring or river to the house. She still used the basket as a base 
for her pottery as shown in Fig. 12, and to this desire for a small 
mouthed olla Cushing claims we owe the beautiful shape of Fig. 13. 



20 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



He says : "One of the consequences of all this was that when large 
they could not be stroked inside, as the shoulders or uttermost upper 
peripheries of the vessel could not be reached with the hand or scraper 
through the small openings. The effect of the pressure exerted in 
smoothing them on the outside, therefore, naturally caused the upper 
parts to sink down, generating the spheroidal shape of the jar, one of 
the most beautiful types of the olla ever known to the Pueblos. At 
Zuni, wishing to have an ancient jar of this form which I had seen, 
reproduced, I showed a drawing of it to a woman expert in the manu- 
facture of pottery. Without any instructions from me beyond a mere 
statement of my wishes, she proceeded at once to sprinkle the inside 
of a basket-bowl with sand, managing the clay in the way above cle- 






FIG. 13. SECONDARY FORM 
OP THE VESSEL. 



FIG. 14. FINISHED VESSEL, 
SHOWING CONTRACTIONS 
IN DRYING. 



scribed and continuing the vessel shaping upward by spiral building. 
She did not at first make the shoulders low or sloping, but rounded 
or arched them upward and outward. At this I remonstrated, but 
she gave no heed other than to ejaculate "Wa-na-ni-ana!" which 
meant "just wait, will you!" When she had finished the rim. she 
easily caused the shoulders to sink, simply by stroking them — more 
where uneven than elsewhere — with a wet scraper of gourd until she 
had exactly reproduced the form of the drawing. She then set the 
vessel aside in the basket. Within two days it shrank by drying at the 
rate of about one inch in twelve, leaving the basket far too large. It 
could hence be removed without the slightest difficulty. (See Fig. 14). 



baskp:try in indian legend. 



21 




22 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



CHAPTER III. 
BASKETRY IN INDIAN LEGEND. 

Considering the important place that basketry holds in the life of 
the Indian, it is to be expected that much legendary lore of one kind 
or another would be associated with it. And such is the case. Did 
one have the time and opportunity, he might accumulate a large 
volume of such legends. A few must here suffice. 

MacMurray thus writes of the Cosmogony of the Yakimas as it was 
told to him by one of their great war chiefs : "The world was all 
water, and Saghalee Tyee was above it. He threw up out of the water 
at shallow places large quantities of mud, and that made the land. 
He made trees to grow, and he made a man out of a ball of 'mud 





FIG. ]6. INDIAN BABY BASKET. 
CALIFORNIA TRIBE. 
CHRYSALIS PATTERN. 



FIG. 17. CRADLE OF NEVADA 

UTES, SHOWING CALIFORNIAN 

INFLUENCES. 



and instructed him in what he should do. When the man grew lone- 
some, he made a woman as his companion, and taught her to dress 
skins, and to gather berries, and to make baskets of the bark of roots, 
which he taught her how to find. 

"She was asleep and dreaming of her ignorance of how to please 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN LEGEND. J 

man, and she prayed to Saghalee Tyee to help her. He breathed on her 
and gave her something that she could not see, or hear, or smell, or 
touch, and it was preserved in a little basket, and by it all the arts 
of design and skilled handiwork were imparted to her descendants 

This Yakima chief then, in order that Mrs. MacMurray might be 
inspired likewise, presented her husband with a very ancient drum- 
shaped basket, about two and one half inches in diameter which is 
now most carefully preserved among other baskets in the MacMur- 
ray home at Princeton, N. J. 

According to Washington Matthews the Navahoes have many 
legends with which baskets are connected. 

Here is a description of the first baby baskets ever made. Surely 
none but a poetic and imaginative people could ever have conceived 
so wonderful a basket. Their gods of war were born of two women, 
one fathered by the sun, the other by a waterfall and when they were 
born they were placed in baby baskets both alike as follows: Ine 
foot-rests and the back battens were made of sunbeam, the hoods of 
rainbow, the side-strings of sheet lightning, and the lacing strings of 
zigzag lightning. One child they covered with the black cloud, and 
the other with the female rain. 

Another form of this story says that the boy born first was wrapped 
in black cloud. A rainbow was used for the hood of his basket and 
studded with stars. The back of the frame was a parhelion, with the 
brio-ht spot at its bottom shining at the lowest point. Zigzag lightning 
was laid in each side and straight lightning down the middle in, front. 
Niltsatlol (sunbeams shining on a distant rainstorm) formed the fringe 
in front where Indians now put strips of buckskin. The carry-straps 
were sunbeams. ,11 * 

It has often been stated that the Navahoes make no baskets, yet 
in the light of the following legend it would certainly appear that they 
were basket-makers from the earliest ages. Doubtless the art has suf- 
fered a great decline, and it is true that but few Navaho women now 
practice it. Yet I have myself seen them at work and while thus 
occupied have succeeded in photographing them. 

This legend is of one of their maidens who made baskets, She was 
wooed by the Coyote, whose life principle was not in his chest where 
it would be easy to destroy it, but in the tip of his nose and the end of 
his tail The Covote had slain the Great Wolf but the maiden refused 
to marry him unless he had first been slain four times and four times 
had come back to life. Coyote allowed the maid to beat him with a 
great club until she thought him dead. Then she went to her basket- 
making. She was engaged in making four baskets at the time, but 
had not worked long before Coyote came back. 

Again she beat him with the club so that his body was hacked into 
pieces and again she returned to her basketry, only to find Coyote 
shortly by her side saying "Twice you have slain me and I have come 

back to life." ,.,11 -^ 1 

Once again she sought to slay him but failed to kill the vital prin- 
ciple and so she had only succeeded in taking a few stitches in the work 
when Coyote was back again. 

This time she smashed him all to pieces and mixed him with eartn 
and ground him to powder and then scattered the powder in every 
direction But, after considerable trouble, Coyote managed to gather 



24 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



together his scattered corpus and returned to his basket making 
maiden, who soon thereafter became his wife. 

From another legend, however, we learn that it was a family or 
clan called Dsiltlani, who joined the Navahoes in the early days of the 
nation's history, who taught their women how to make wicker water- 
bottles, carrying baskets, etc. 

Yeitso, the tallest, fiercest, and most dreadful of the alien gods of 
the Navaho never travelled without carrying a basket. Yeitso was a 
singular being, born a monster at a time when the Navaho men and 
women were living apart. During this period of separation both sexes 
indulged in evil and vile practices and Yeitso was the fruit of the evil 
doing of his mother. He was slain by two mythical heroes who took 
his scalp and broken arrows to their home in his own basket. 

The Navahoes have an interesting legend which they connect with 
the. carrying basket, Pig. 18. In the early days of the world's history 
one of their mythical heroes was seized by a flying monster and carried 
up to a dangerous ledge on a high mountain in New Mexico. He suc- 




PIG. 20. PAIUTI WATER BOTTLE. 
THE TUSJEH OP THE NAVAHO. 

PIGS. 18 AND 19. HOPI BASKET 
AND METHOD OP WEAVE. 

ceeded in killing the monster and its mate but was unable to get down 
from his perilous position. Just then he saw the Bat Woman (one of 
the mythical characters of the Navahoes) walking along the base of 
the cliff. After a good deal of persuasion she consented to come up 
and carry him down in her basket, but she required that he should close 
his eyes before she did so. Before he closed his eyes he saw that the 
large carrying basket was held upon her back by strings as thin as those 
of a spider's web. "Grandmother," he said, "I fear to enter your bas- 
ket ; the strings are too, thin." "Have no fear," she replied, "I have 
carried a whole deer in this basket; the strings are strong enough to 
bear you." Still he hesitated and still she assured him. The fourth time 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN LEGEND. ^5 

that he expressed his fear she said : "Fill the basket with stones and 
you will see that I speak the truth." He did as he was bidden and she 
danced around with the loaded basket on her back ; but the strings did 
not break, though they twanged like bowstrings. When he entered 
the basket she bade him keep his eyes shut until they reached the 
bottom of the cliff, as he must not see how she managed to descend. 
He shut his eyes and soon felt himself gradually going down ; but 
he heard a strange flapping against the rock, which so excited his 
curiosity that he opened his eyes. Instantly he began to fall with 
dangerous rapidity, and the flapping stopped ; she struck him with her 
stick and bade him close his eyes. Again he felt himself slowly descend- 
ing, and the flapping against the rock began. Three times more he 
disobeyed her, and the last time they were near the bottom of the cliff, 
and both fell to the ground unhurt. 




FIG. 21. THE HO-A-PUH OR CARRYING BASKET 
OF THE HOPIS AND NAVAHOES. 

As soon as they reached the ground the hero and the Bat Woman 
plucked the feathers of the winged monsters and placed them in the 
basket. Before the hero left the Bat Woman he cautioned her not 
to pass through two particular regions, one of which was overgrown 
with weeds and the other with sunflowers. The Bat Woman failed to 
heed the warning and as she walked along through the sunflowers she 
heard a rustling behind her, and, turning,, saw the feathers changing 
into birds of strange appearance and varying plumage and all swarm- 
ing out of her basket. She tried to hold them in, to catch them as 
they flew out, but all in vain. She laid down her basket and watched, 
helplessly, her feathers changing into little birds of all kinds, wrens, 
warblers, titmice and the like, all flying away until her basket was 
empty. Thus it was that the little birds were created. 

In the Chaco Canyon in Northern New Mexico are a number of 

• interesting cliff-dwellings or pueblo houses. In the early days they 

were inhabited by the Pueblo people. One day a war eagle was seen 

floating in the sky. The Pueblos much desired the feathers of the 

eagle, so they watched where the bird alighted. When they found the 



26 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



nest it was in a cleft on the face of a precipice and inaccessible unless 
one were lowered in a basket. None of the young men of the Pueblos 
was willing to risk his life in the attempt and they finally persuaded a 
poor Navaho, afterwards named Kinniki, to make the effort on their 
behalf. A great, strong carrying basket was made, somewhat after 
the style of Fig. 21, and the Navaho got inside it and was lowered to 
the eagle's nest. He was told to drop the eagles to the ground below, 
but the Wind whispered to him that the Pueblos were his enemies 
and he had better not obey their behests. He heeded the warning of 
the Wind and called out to those above : "Swing the basket so that it 
may come nearer to the cliff. I cannot reach the nest unless you do/' 
So they caused the basket to swing to and fro and when it touched the 
cliff the Navaho stepped out leaving the empty basket swinging in the 
air. 




FIG. 22. IIOPI BASKET; MADE OF YUCCA. 

Ihe Pueblos were very angry when they found out the trick that 
had been played upon them, and they tried to kill the Navaho by shoot- 
ing fire arrows to the nest. For four days he stayed here starv- 
ing, keeping himself warm at night by sleeping between the two young 
eaglets. 

Then the eagles came home and they took him up to the upper 
world above the sky. He learned all the wonderful songs, prayers, 
sacrifices and ceremonies of the eagles, which are now practiced by 
the Navahoes in one of their great rites. 

Now he returned to earth, and soon thereafter visited the treacher- 
ous people of Kintyel, upon whom he took a singular and appropriate 
vengeance. 

Another typical hero of the Navahoes was Na-ti-nes-thani — He who 
Teaches Himself. He was a great gambler, and after he had gambled 
away all his possessions, he left his home for some far away country 
in the hope of bettering his fortunes. 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN LEGEND. 2 7 

After wonderful adventures he came to the home of a wicked wizard, 
who was a cannibal, and whose own daughter was also his wife. This 
vile creature introduced Natinesthani to his daughter as his son-in-law, 
for he wished him to stay, so that he might slay and eat him. The 
wizard insisted upon smoking some of his son-in-law's tobacco, but 
it sent him into a swoon which seemed so like death that his wife and 
daughter besought Natinesthani to restore him to life. Four times 
this occurred, then the wizard determined to get rid of his son-in-law. 
The former induced his daughter to take a sacred basket filled with 
mush, together with other food, to her husband, in which he had 
placed poison next to the a-tha-at-lo or finishing point on the rim. 
By craft the stranger avoided eating the poison, for the Wind People 
had warned him of it. When his wife presented the basket to him, she 
said: "When a stranger visits us we always expect him to eat from 
the part of the basket where it is finished." He replied : "It is my cus- 
tom to eat from the edge oppposite the point of finish." He thus 
escaped the poison. 

When the young woman told her father he saw that he must try 
again, so the next day he sent his daughter with a dish of stewed ven- 
ison and a basket full of mush. But as the young man took it the Wind 
People warned him that there was poison all around the edge of the 
basket, so this time he ate freely of the stew, but, when he took the 
basket of mush he said : "When I eat just as the sun is about to come 
up, it is my custom to eat only from the middle of the basket." The 
following day both stew and mush were brought him, but as the 
Wind People whispered to him and told him that poison was mixed 
all through the mush, he said to his wife : "I may eat no mush to-day. 
The sun has already risen, and I have sworn that the sun shall never 
see me eat mush." On the fourth morning the wicked father-in-law 
poisoned both stew and mush, but being warned as usual by the 
Wind People, the young man said to his wife: "I do not eat at all to- 
day. It is my custom to eat no food one day in every four. This is 
the day that I must fast." 

After such marvellous proofs of power the old man ceased his 
attempts for awhile ; but by and by, he was again filled with desire to 
slay his son. Many were the ruses that he followed, the ambuscades 
that ne planned, the treacheries he concocted, but Natinesthani evaded 
them all. Finally he succeeded in obtaining charms which altogether 
destroyed the wizard's power. Then he told the wizard how he had all 
^long known of his nefarious designs, and how he had thwarted them. 
Fully exposed, the incestuous wizard confessed his wickedness and 
begged forgiveness and asked his son-in-law to cure him of all his evil. 
This was done and thus the Feather Chant and Dance were inaugurated 
which continue to this day as potent ceremonies for the confusion of 
all the wizards and witches. 

In the legends which describe in detail the growth of the Navaho 
nation, the accession of one gens is thus accounted for : "It happened 
about this time while some of the Tha 'paha were sojourning at Agala, 
that they sent two children one night to a spring to get water. The 
children carried out with them two wicker bottles, see Fig. 20, in 
somewhat the same fashion as pictured in Fig. 23, but returned with 
four. "Where did you get these other bottles?" the parents inquired. 
"We took them away from two little girls whom we met at the spring." 



28 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



answered the children. "Why did you do this, and who are the girls?" 
said the elders. "We do not know. They are strangers," said the 
little ones. The parents at once set out for the spring to find the 
strange children and restore the stolen bottles to them; but on the 
way they met the little girls coming toward the Tha 'paha camp, and 
asked them who they were. The strange children replied: "We 
belong to a band of wanderers who are encamped on yonder (moun- 
tain. They sent us two together to find water." "Then we shall give 
you a name," said the Tha 'paha; "we shall call you To 'baznaazi — 
Two Come Together for Water." The Tha 'paha brought the little 
girls to their hut and bade them be seated. "Stay with us," they said. 




FIG. 23. APACHE WOMAN PIG. 24. POMA WOMAN CARRYING 

CARRYING WATER IN BASKET BOTTLE. LOAD IN CONICAL BASKET. 

"You are too weak and little to carry the water so far. We shall send 
some of our young men to carry it for you." When the young men 
found the camp of the strangers they invited the latter to visit them. 
The Tha 'paha welcomed the newcomers as friends, and told them they 
had already a name for them, To 'baznaazi. Under this name they 
became united to the Navahoes as a new gens, and they aire now closely 
affiliated with Tha 'paha. 

One of the chief legends of the Hopi is that of Tiyo, the mythical 
snake hero, and with that is intimately associated the "Ho-a-puh," 
or carrying basket. (Fig. 21.) Tiyo's father lived on a mountain near 
the junction of the San Juan and Colorado rivers. The youth was 
thoughtful and studious and was much puzzled to account for the ever 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN LEGEND. 



29 



flowing away of the water of the Colorado river. After long reflection 
he decided to endeavor to solve the mystery. His father Helped prepare 
a dry cottonwood tree, hollow it out and thus make a closed boat in 
which he could sail down the river to the discovery of its secret. To 
keep him from starving his mother and sister each gave him a po-o-ta, 
or basket tray made of yucca, (Fig. 22) heaped up with food. 

It was a dangerous trip but he finally reached the end of the journey. 
Here he descried a small round hole in the ground, and, hearing a 
sound, he advanced and was saluted with the cordial greeting "Um- 
pi-tuh, my heart is glad ; I have long been expecting you ; come down 
into my house." 




FIG. 25. HAVASUPAI MAKING BASKET. 



Under the direction of the Spider Woman, Tiyo visited the under- 
world and learned all the secret songs, prayers, dances and other 
ceremonials that are now performed by the snake-antelope fraternity. 
Then they went to the Sun and learned much from him, and after 
several day's journeyings returned to the Snake Kiva, where the chief 
taught him many things and then bestowed upon him two maidens. 
Said he : "Here are two maidens who know the charm which prevents 
death from the bite of the rattlesnake ; take them with you, and one you 
shall give to your younger brother." 

Four days later Spider Woman made a beautiful hoapuh, around 



30 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



which she fastened a cotton cord, and on the fifth morning she placed 
Tiyo in it, with a maiden on each side. She then ascended through the 
hatch and disappeared, but soon a filament descended and attached 
itself to the cord, and the basket was drawn up to the white clouds, 
which sailed away to To-ko-na-bi, and there Spider Woman again 
spun out her filament and lowered the basket to the ground. Tiyo 
took the maidens to his mother's house, and no stranger saw them 
for four days, and the two brothers prepared the bridal presents. 

Tiyo and his brother and the two Snake maidens thus became the 
progenitors of the Snake and Antelope Clans of the Hopi, who alone 
perform the thrilling ceremony which I have elsewhere fully de- 
scribed.* 




FLG .20. POMA POUNDING ACORNS IN GRANITE 
MORTAR WITH BASKET TOP. 



The Havasupais of the Havasu Canyon have a legend that they are 
descended from a daughter of Tochopa, their good god, who, like 
Tiyo's father, fastened up his offspring in a hollowed-out tree. But in 
Tochopa's case it was because Hokomata, the bad god, was about 
to drown the world. After floating about for many days — so long, 
indeed, that she grew from a girl to a woman — the log settled at a 
point not far from the junction of the Little Colorado with the main 
river. Here, when she emerged from the tree, everything was dark 
and foggy. Soon she felt the desire for maternity, and, as the sun 
slowly rose for the first time upon the earth and dispelled the dark- 



*Scientific American, June 24 and Sept. 9, 1899. Wide World Magazine, Jan. 
1900. Outing, June, 1900. 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN LEGEND. 



31 



asMooney Fan ifHavasu Canyon. The offspring of tins umon was 

a daughter. 




FIG. 2tiA. 



NAVAHO WATER CARRIERS. 



so many other weavers in the exercise of the art. 



32 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




PIG. 27. SACRED BASKETS OP THE NAVAHOES, 
PIMAS AND APACHES. (Plimpton Collection.) 











..,%&"*'' ^ ;-^v" 














»».,. : »V;».' ; w:'.. ■.'■; : ' , 




.- ■. . ■. 






Hrora^ -j^w"*^ *, - 


js^/s^y-- 






•■ .'-■■;' , . 


J^VVV ' 






4s£l! 










^^ JsP*^l 








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FIG. 28. DANCE AND OTHER BASKETS OP THE 
TOKUTS. (Plimpton Collection.) 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN CEREMONIAL. 33 

CHAPTER IV. 
BASKETRY IN INDIAN CEREMONIAL. 

In many Indian ceremonies baskets play a most important part. 
If all these were recorded a large volume would be the result. A 
few of the most important and best known are here briefly given. 

In one of the great healing ceremonies and dances of the Navahoes 
the baskets shown in Figs. 27 and 29 have a distinct place. One 
or other of these baskets must be used. 

To describe this wonderfully weird and singular series of ceremonies 
in full would take up three-score pages of this unpretentious work, 
so I must content myself with giving the briefest synopsis, merely 
showing where the baskets are ceremonially used. The whole series 
of dances, prayers, songs, etc., are called "Hasjelti Dailjis." Th ey 
are conducted by one of the leading shamans of the tribe, and only 
the most wealthv can afford them, for the cost is great, even as high 
as hundreds, and often two or three thousands, of dollars. For nine 
days these ceremonies last, the first day being devoted to the building 
and dedication of a medicine hogan and a sweat house. 

Around this sweat house wands of turkey feathers were placed, 
which were brought hither in one of these sacred baskets ; and when 
the sweating process was over the wands were collected, placed in 
the basket and removed to the medicine hogan. 

On the fourth day two of these baskets figured prominently in the 
ceremonies. A medicine basket containing amole root and water was 
placed in front of a circle made of sand and covered with pine boughs. 
A second basket contained water and a quantity of pine needles suf- 
ficiently thick to form a dry surface, and on the top of these needles 
a number of valuable necklaces of coral, turquoise and silver were 
placed. A square was formed on the edge of the basket with four 
of the turkey wands before mentioned. The song priest with rattle 
led several priests in singing. The invalid sat to the northeast of 
the circle, a breech cloth his only apparel. During the chanting an 
attendant made suds by macerating the amole and beating it up and 
down in the water. The basket remained in position ; the man stooped 
over it, facing north ; his position allowed the sunbeams which came 
through the fire opening to fall upon the suds. When the basket 
was a mass of white froth the attendant washed the suds from his 
hands by pouring water from a Paiuti basket water-bottle (Fig. 20) 
over them, after which the song priest came forward and with corn 
pollen drew a cross over the suds, which stood firm like the beaten 
whites of eggs, the arms of the cross pointing to the cardinal points. 
A circle of the pollen was then made around the edge of the suds" 
This crossing and circling of the basket of suds with the pollen is 
supposed to give them additional power in restoring the invalid to 
health. The invalid now knelt upon the pinion boughs in the center 
of the same circle. "A handful of the suds was placed on his head. 
The basket was now placed near to him, and he bathed his head 
thoroughlv ; the maker of the suds afterwards assisted him in bathing 
the entire body with the suds, and pieces of yucca were rubbed upon 



34 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



the body. The chant continued through the ceremony and closed 
just as the remainder of the suds was emptied by the attendant over 
the invalid's head. The song priest collected the four wands from the 
second basket, and an attendant gathered the necklaces ; a second 
attendant placed the basket before the invalid, who was now sitting 
in the center of the circle, and the first attendant assisted him in bath- 
ing the entire body with this mixture; the body was quite covered 
with the pine needles, which had become very soft from soaking. 
The invalid then returned to his former position at the left of the 
song priest, and the pine needles of the yucca, or amole, together 
with the sands, were carried out and deposited at the foot of a pinion 




FIG. 29. NAVAHO SACRED BASKET. 

tree. The body of the invalid was dried by rubbing with meal." This 
taking out of the sands, pine needles, etc., used in the ceremony was 
supposed to take away so much of the disease that had been washed 
from the invalid. 

Later in the day at another most elaborate ceremony baskets fillea 
with food are placed in a circle around a fire in the medicine lodge. 
One of the priests takes a pinch of food from each basket, and places 
it in another basket. This is then prayed over, smoked over and 
thus made a powerful medicine 'by the song-priest. After the priest 
has gone through several performances with it, the invalid dips his 
three first fingers into the mixture, puts them in his mouth, and 
loudly sucks in the air. This is repeated four times. Then all the 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN CEREMONIAL. 35 

attendants do likewise, with a prayer for rain, good crops, health and 
riches. This food is afterwards dried by the chief medicine man, 
made into a powder, and is one of his 'most potent medicines. 

On the sixth day a great sand painting is made in the medicine 
lodge, and the invalid, as he enters, is required to take the sacred 
medicine basket, which is now filled with sacred meal, and sprinkle 
the painting with it. The chief figures of the painting were the god- 
desses of the rainbow, whose favor it was desired he should gain. 
Again and again in the ceremonies these sacred baskets are used, 
and on the ninth day in the concluding dance the invalid takes it full 
of sacred meal and sprinkles all the dancers. The full description of 
this wonderful series of ceremonies is found in the Eighth Annual 
Report of the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology. 

If the margin is worn through or torn, the basket is unfit for sacred 
use. The basket is one of the perquisites of the shaman when the 
rites are done ; but he, in turn, must give it away, and must be careful 
never to eat out of it. Notwithstanding its sacred uses, food may 
be served in it bv any other person than the shaman who has used 
it ceremoniallv. 



FIG. 30. CIRCLE OP MEAL 
IN NAVAHO WEDDING BASKET. 

Fig. 29 shows the other form of Navaho sacred basket. It is also 
made of aromatic sumac, and is used in the rites to hold sacred meal. 
The crosses are said to represent clouds, heavy with rain, and would 
indicate that this basketry design may have had its origin in its use 
during ceremonies intended to bring the rain. 

Another important ceremony of the Navahoes in which this basket 
figures is that of marriage. 

A. M. Stephen thus describes the wedding custom: "On the 
night set for the wedding both families and their friends meet at the 
hut of the bride's family. Here there are much feasting and singing, 
and the bride's family make return presents to the bridegroom's people, 
but not, of course, to the same amount. The women of the bride's 
family prepare corn meal porridge, which is poured into the basket. 
The bride's uncle then sprinkles the sacred blue pollen of the larkspur 
upon the porridge, forming a design as in Fig. 30. 

The bride has hitherto been lying beside her mother, concealed 
under a blanket, on the woman's side of the hogan (hut). After call- 
ing to her to come to him, her uncle seats her on the west side of 
the hut, and the bridegroom sits down before her, with his face 
toward hers, and the basket of porridge set between them. A gourd 



$6 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

of water is then given to the bride, who pours some of it on the 
bridegroom's hands while he washes them, and he then performs a 
like office for her. With the first two fingers of the right hand he 
then takes a pinch of porridge, just where the line of pollen touches 
the circle of the east side. He eats this one pinch, and the bride dips 
with her fingers from the same place. He then takes in succession 
a pinch from the other places where the lines touch the circle and a 
final pinch from the center, the bride's fingers following his. The 
basket of porridge is then passed over to the younger guests, who 
speedily devour it with merry clamor, a custom analagous to dividing 
the bride's cake at a wedding. The elder relatives of the couple now 
give them much good and weighty advice, and the marriage is com- 
plete." 

In Navaho ceremonies that I have witnessed the custom is some- 
what different. The pollen is sprinkled and a pinch taken from each 
quarter and from the center by the shaman or medicine man and by 
him breathed upon and thrown to the corresponding cardinal points, 
N. W. S. E. and here, thus propitiating the powers of all the universe. 
Then, handing the bowl to the bride and bridegroom, they, in the 
presence of the assembled guests, begin at the point where the line 
touches the east, and each take a pinch of the porridge and eat it, 
the bride going one way and the bridegroom the other, until their 
fingers meet on the opposite side of the bowl. Then the marriage is 
complete, and the rest of the porridge is handed to the guests. 

Mr. G. H. Pepper, of the American Museum of Natural History, 
New York, has seen a Navaho wedding ceremony conducted in a 
different manner from either of these described. On this occasion 
he learned that a little Indian girl was at the point of death, having 
been bitten by a rattlesnake while collecting pollen from growing 
corn. Pollen is the Navaho symbol of fertility, and its use in a 
marriage ceremony is naturally obvious. Although the child was 
so dangerously ill, Mr. Pepper says the marriage ceremony went on, 
regardless of her condition. A small amount of corn meal was taken 
and slightly moistened and then mixed together. This half dry, half 
wet meal was then sprinkled in four lines across the empty wedding 
basket, dividing it into four equal parts. At the end of each line a 
small ball of the meal was placed, as well as one in the center. This 
done, all was ready for the ceremony. The bridegroom, who up to 
this time had been outside the hogan with his friends, now came in 
and sat down. Then the mother of the bride brought to the groom 
a wicker or gourd bottle full of water, with which he advanced, and, 
as the bride held out her hands, he poured the water over while she 
washed them. This done, the bride took the water bottle and poured 
water over his hands. Now the couple sat down on the west side 
of the hogan, and in full view of all present. The bridegroom then 
took the wedding basket in his hands, holding it with the shipapu 
opening turned towards the east. Then, taking a small pinch of meal 
from the end of the line which terminated towards the east, he put it in 
the bride's mouth. The bride then took a pinch and fed the groom 
in like manner, after which groom and bride alternately took a pinch, 
each feeding it to the other, from each of the lines in succession, 
and finally from the center. This done, the ceremony was completed. 
In his preoccupation with the sick child Mr. Pepper does not remem- 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN CEREMONIAL. 37 

ber whether the pinches of meal were taken from the lines beginning 
East and continuing North, West and South or the other way. It will 
be remembered that elsewhere I have called attention to the fact that 
as a rule the ceremonial circuit of the Indians of the Southwest is 
always East, North, West and South, which is describing a circle in 
the backward way from that generally followed by white men. 

Another interesting thing about this Navaho wedding basket it is 
well to notice, and that is that the finishing off of the last coil of the 
basketry always comes directly opposite to the Shipapu opening. 
This is for the purpose of enabling those who use the basket at 
night to determine where the Shipapu opening is, so that they may 
hold the basket in the proper ceremonial way, which requires that 
the Shipapu opening shall always be turned towards the East. This 
finishing off place on the rim of the basket is called by the Navahoes 
the a-tha-at-lo. 

According to Matthews, the sacred basket used in all these cere- 
monials, has another important function to perform. It is used as a 
drum. He says : "In none of the ancient Navaho rites is a regular 
drum or tomtom employed. The inverted basket serves the purpose 
of one, and the way in which it is used for this simple object is ren- 
dered devious and difficult by ceremonious observances." 

Then over a page of description is required to tell how the shamans 
proceed when they "turn down the basket" to make a drum of it 
at the beginning of the songs, and "turn up the basket" at the close. 
Everything is done with elaborate ceremony. "There are songs for 
turning up and turning down the basket, and there are certain words 
in these songs at which the shaman prepares to turn up the basket 
by putting his hand under its eastern rim, and other words at which 
be does the turning. For four nights, when the basket is turned' 
down, the eastern part is laid on the outstretched blanket first, and 
it is inverted toward the west. On the fifth night it is inverted irl the 
opposite direction. When it is turned up, it is always lifted first at 
the eastern edge. As it is raised an imaginary something is blown 
toward the east, in the direction of the smoke-hole of the lodge, and 
when it is completely turned up hands are waved in the same direction, 
to drive out the evil influences which the sacred songs have collected 
and imprisoned under the basket." 

Even in the making of this sacred basket many ceremonial require- 
ments must be heeded. In forming the helical coil, the fabricator must 
always put the butt end of the twig toward the center of the basket 
and the tip end toward the periphery, in accordance with the cere- 
monial laws governing the disposition of butts and tips. 

This same basket is often called an Apache Medicine Basket. Its 
use by the Apaches seems somewhat singular, as they themselves are 
expert basket makers. The explanation of its use by their shamans 
was given to me by a medicine man as follows : On one occasion a 
great Navaho shaman was present and assisted his Apache brother 
in a healing ceremony of great importance. A noted and wealthy 
personage was very sick, and no expense was spared to restore him 
to health. The Apache medicine man sent for the Navaho, and 
among the paraphernalia of the latter was this basket. The cere- 
monies over, the patient recovered, and when the Apache thanked 
his Navaho coadjutor and asked for the secret of his power he was 



INDIAN BASKETRY 




BASKETRY IN INDIAN CEREMONIAL. 39 

told, among other things, that the basket was "heap good medicine." 
From that day to this there are few Apache medicine men who do 
not count a Paiuti basket as one of the indispensable articles of 
their craft ; for, as I have elsewhere explained, this celebrated basket 
is seldom made by any other than a Paiuti. 

Among many tribes baskets are used for placing food at the graves 
of the dead. The Hopi believe that departed spirits linger around 
their own graves, and with a pathetic simplicity, that is as beautiful 
as it is useless, their mourning friends place offerings of bread and 
other foods in baskets and bowls, that the dead loved ones may not 
hunger while they still hover around their earthly remains. Around 





FIG. 32. ANTELOPE ALTAR, SHOWING 

KOHONINO BASKET IN WHICH 

CHARM LIQUID IS MADE. 



PIG. 33. PRAYING AT THE 
SHRINE OP THE 
SPIDER WOMAN. 



the Hopi villages, graves are seen where the burials are in clefts of 
the rocks, which are then filled up with large stones. Upon these are 
the baskets and crockery bowls in which food is placed for the 
departed. 

The accompanying engraving is of the Antelope Altar at Shipau- 
luvi and shows how the coiled plaques are used for holding the 
bahos or prayer sticks of the Hopis in their secret ceremonials of 
the Kiva. These ceremonials are connected with the observance of 
the Snake Dance, which, as I have elsewhere described, is a prayer 
for rain. Baskets have no unimportant part to play in various por- 
tions of this ceremony. 

The Snake Charm Liquid is made in a Havasupai basket, shown 
in Fig. 32. This is placed in the center of a special altar, made for 
the purpose. In it are dropped some shells, charms, and a few pieces 
of crushed nuts and sticks. Then one of the priests, with considerable 
ritual, pours into the basket from north, west, south, east, up and 
down (the six cardinal points of the Hopi) liquid from a gourd vessel. 
By this time all the priests are squatted around the basket, chewing 
something that one of the older priests had given them. This chewed 
substance is then placed in the liquid of the basket. Water from 
gourds on the roof is also put in. 

Now all is ready for the preparation of the charm. Each priest 
holds in his hand the snake whip (a stick to which eagle feathers 
are attached), while the ceremonial pipe-lighter, after lighting the 



40 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

sacred pipe, hands it to the chief priest, addressing him in terms of 
relationship. Smoking it in silence the chief puffs the smoke into 
the liquid and hands it to his neighbor, who does the like and passes 
it on. All thus participate in solemn silence. 




FIG. 34. HOPI BASKET, FROM ORAIBI, WITH 
SPIDER WEB PATTERN. 

Then the chief priest picks up his rattle and begins a prayer which 
is as fervent as one could desire. Shaking the rattle, all the priests 
commence to sing a weird song in rapid time, while one of them 




FIG. 35 HOPI SACRED MEAL PLAQUE, MADE OF T UCCA. 

holds upright in the middle of the basket a black stick, on the top 
of which is tied a feather. Moving their snake whips to and fro, 
they sing four songs, when one of the chiefs picks up all the objects 
on the altar and places them in the basket. 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN CEREMONIAL. 



41 



In a moment the kiva rings with the fierce yells of the Hopi war- 
cry, while the priest vigorously stirs the mixture in the basket. And 
the rapid song is sung while the priest stirs and kneads the contents 
of the basket with his hands. Sacred meal is cast into the mixture, 
while the song sinks to low tones, and gradually dies away altogether, 
though the quiet shaking of the rattles and gentle tremor of the snake 
whips continue for a short time. 

A most painful silence follows. The hush is intense, the stillness 
perfect. It is broken by the prayer of the chief priest, who sprinkles 
more sacred meal into the mixture. Others do the same. The liquid 
is again stirred, and then sprinkled to all the cardinal points, and the 
same is done in the air outside, above the kiva. 

Then the stirring priest takes some white earth, and mixing it with 
the charm liquid, makes white paint, which he rubs upon the breast, 




PIG. 



36. WOMEN WITH HOPT AND HAVASUPAI PASKETS 
SPRINKLING SNAKES WITH SACRED MEAL. 



back, cheeks, forearms, and legs of the chief priest. All the other 
priests are then likewise painted. 

Now there is nothing whatever in this liquid that can either charm 
a snake or preserve an Indian from the deadly nature of its bite. 
Even the Hopis know that all its virtue is communicated in the 
ceremonies I have so imperfectly and inadequately described. I make 
this explanation lest my reader assume there is some subtle poison 
used in this mixture, which, if given to the snakes, stupefies them and 
renders them unable to do injury. 

At a certain place in the nine days' ceremonies of the Snake- 
Antelope Kivas, which precede the open air Snake Dance, now so well 
known, another kind o<f basket is used as shown in Fig. 34. In this the 
color splints are so arranged in lines radiating from a common centre, 
and divided by cross lines, as rudely to imitate the spider's web. 
Among- the Cahuillas of Southern California this is purely imitative, 



42 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

but with the Hopis it has a meaning of profound religious significance. 
Before rain can descend the clouds must exist. These, according to 
Hopi mythology, are woven by the spider woman — Ko-kyan-wuh-ti — 
and, to propitiate her, offerings are ceremonially made at her shrine 
prior to the dance by the chief priest of the Antelope Fraternity. 
(See Fig. 33.) Devout women of the tribe also seek to propitiate her 
by prayers, offerings and other things that will please her, and one 
of these ways is to weave the spider's web into the basket and present 
to her bahos — prayer sticks — upon this sacred and personal symbol. 
The so-called sacred meal trays of the Hopi, whether of willow or 
yucca, often bear this spider web design. 

In the open air dance a score or more of married women and maid- 
ens may be seen — the former distinguishable by the hair rolls on each 
side of the face, and the latter by the big whorls over each ear — hold- 
ing in their hands baskets or plaques of sacred meal. This meal is 
reverently sprinkled on dancers and snakes as they pass by, and here 
and there an old woman may be seen wandering about on the edge 
of the dance circle ready to sprinkle any specially vicious reptile which 
might otherwise strike its poisonous fangs into the dancers. 

But by far the most important place for the basket in Hopi ceremon- 
ial is in the Lalakonti Dance. 

This is regularly performed in the five villages of Oraibi, Mashong- 
navi, Shipaluvi, Shimopavi and Walpi, generally in the month of 
October. The open-air public dance, as in the case of the Snake 
Dance, is the concluding performance of nine days of secret ceremon- 
ials performed in the underground "kivas" of the organization or sis- 
terhood. The whole ceremony is known under the name of La-la-kon- 
ti. ! It is the harvest festival of the Rain Cloud clan, and the basket 
throwers personify the mythic ancestral mothers of the clan. Accord- 
ing to Hopi mythology much importance attaches to the primal ma- 
ternal ancestors of each clan. Their good gifts — such as the rain, 
the bountiful harvests, the increase of their flocks and herds — are 
largely attributed either to the beneficent powers of these maternal 
ancestors directly exercised on their behalf, or owing to the influence 
they exert over those who have the powers. 

According to Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, the chief ethnologic authority 
on the Hopi, this ceremony was brought to its present home by va- 
rious Rain Cloud clans that emigrated from the South. "When their 
ancestors first came into the Walpi Valley the traditionists of the 
clan declare the priests who lived on the old site of Walpi knew only 
a few ceremonies to bring the rain. Their chiefs, they declare, had 
much greater powers in this direction, for by their magic they could 
force the gods which control the rain and growth of corn to do their 
bidding. The Rain Cloud clans, when they arrived at the Hopi mesas, 
practised a form of the rain cult which was much more highly devel- 
oped than that of the people which they found living in this region. 
They were invited to exhibit their powers in this direction, for rain 
was sorely needed and a famine threatened them. The priests of the 
Rain Cloud clans accepted the invitation, and, it is said, erected their 
altars not far from a spring now called Tawapa. After they had sung 
their songs for some time mist began to form, then violent rains fell 
and frightful lightning, which alarmed the women of Walpi. The 
legends state that after this show of power the Rain Cloud clans were 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN CEREMONIAL 



43 




THE BASKET THROWERS, OR LAKONE MANAS 




PRIEST HANDING OFFERINGS TO BASKET THROWERS 



44 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

invited to join the Hopi pueblo, assimilated with the original Hopi, 
and from that time to the present have always lived with them." 

Excavations made by Dr. Fewkes at Homolobi and at the Chevelon 
ruins (Cakwabaiyaki), about fifteen miles east of Winslow, Arizona, 
near the main line of the Santa Fe Railway, support the idea above 
advanced, for large quantities of basketry similar to that still made at 
Oraibi and on the middle mesa were found, demonstrating that the 
inhabitants of these villages were expert basket makers. As before 
noted, no Hopi baskets are made on the first mesa, the chief town of 
which is Walpi, and yet nowhere is this basket dance celebrated with 
greater elaboration than at that city, where not a single known woman 
is a basket maker. 

Now to a brief description of the dance.* It is a women's cere- 
mony and the participants may be divided into two groups, the basket 
bearers (or chorus and dancers) and the basket throwers (lakone 
manas). The only man participant is a priest called lakone taka. The 
illustrations, made by Mr. G. L. Rose, of Pasadena, Cal., are of the 
dance at Oraibi in 1898. 

There were about forty basket bearers, consisting of women ol all 
ages — married women, maids and young girls. Each wore an elabor- 
ate headdress that has a distinct significance. The chief priestesses 
led the procession, the girls closing the line as it entered the dance 
plaza. Each woman carried a flat basket, which she held vertically 
in both hands by the rim, so that the concave side was outermost. 
After marching into the plaza, a circle was formed by the women, and 
all sang in chorus a song, parts of which were not audible. As the 
song continued the baskets were slowly raised, first to one breast, 
then to the other, and then brought slowly downward to the level of 
the hips, in cadence with the songs. At the same time the body was 
slightly inclined forward, but the feet were not raised from the ground. 

In the meantime the basket throwers were going through a separate 
religious ceremony with the priest, as pictured in the accompanying 
engravings. 

Now the throwers, led by the priest, approached the circle, and 
soon untied the bundles which they bore on their backs, and took 
positions within the ring of basket throwers diametrically opposite each 
other. Each held a basket aloft, making a movement as if to burl it 
in the air. She did not cast it, however, but crossed to the opposite 
side of the ring, exchanging position with the woman facing her. 
Groups of men outside the ring of basket bearers among the spectators 
shouted to the basket throwers for the baskets. Finally they threw 
them, one after another, until none were left, and with wild shouts the 
lads and men struggled for them, as seen in the engraving. 

In these good natured scuffles the basket was often torn to pieces 
and the clothing of the young men almost torn from their backs. 

The women leave the plaza after the baskets are thrown, but the 
struggle for them often continues for a long time. 

The Hopi have two other basket dances, one of which, the Owa- 
kulti. is a worn down fragment of the Lalakonti, and the other, the 
Kohonino Basket Dance, is slightlv different. The Kohonino, or 



* For fuller description see Dr. Fewkes's interesting accounts in the Ameri- 
can Anthropologist, April 1892, p. 105, and The Journal of American Folk 
Lore, April-June, 1899, p. 81. 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN CEREMONIAL,. 




DANCE OB' BASKET BEARERS 




STRUGGLE FOR BASKETS 



4 6 



INDIAN BASKETBY. 



Havasupais, of Cataract Canyon, trade largely with the Hopi, and in 
this dance Havasupai (Kohonino) baskets alone are used. Six maids 
with elaborate headdresses and five others with simple fillets of yucca 
on their heads participated in the dance, when it was given as a 
part of the Mamzrauti ceremony at Walpi, in 1893. The eleven maids, 
to the beating of the drum, danced before a group of women of the 
Mamzrau Society, moving the basket in time, but there was no throw- 
ing of the baskets as in the Lalakonti. 

Allen Seymour, in The Traveler for September, 1900, relates how he 
purchased a fine basket of a Yolo Indian (Northern California). From 
the photograph (Fig. 41) it can be seen that the stitches are fine and 
the decoration exquisite. It is small ; only eight inches across. About 
the upper edge are sixty pieces of shell money and the pendants are 
of abalone. The upper, middle and lowest bands are of the brightest 



FIG. 41. YOLO INDIAN CEREMONIAL BASKET. 

red from the small spot on the male blackbird's wing, and the two 
intermediate stripes are of bright bronze green from the breast of a 
small local bird. After he had arranged for its purchase Mr. Seymour 
thus relates the ceremony of transfer to him: "Soon three or four of 
the old men of the camp came in and ranged themselves silently 
around the walls. Then the chief followed. In his left hand was a 
small, wooden whistle, or 'tolkah,' with a long, red cord attached. 
In his right hand he held what looked like a broomstick eighteen 
inches long. This was a rattle, or 'sak-ka-tah,' beautifully made of 
elder, with the pith removed, and the sides split down to the handle. 
By a slight, rapid movement of the wrist it produces a sound resembl- 
ing the warning of a rattlesnake. 

"Facing me, in the center of the room, he placed the whistle to his 
mouth and for several minutes blew a succession of soft, varying 
notes, accompanied by a continuous rattle. Then,, dropping the whis- 
tle, he spent some ten minutes in chanting or intoning, always keeping 
up the rattle. All of this time his face and eyes were cast upward, 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN CEREMONIAL. 47 

with a look of rapt devotion, and an occasional break in his voice 
almost changing to a sob. I am not able to express the gravity of 
everyone present. Then he said : 'Two times I give you basket ; you 
no take it. Then you take it.' Twice, with a long, mournful chant 
and an extra rattle, he advanced the basket, only to withdraw it. 
The third time his chant and rattle were particularly long and suppli- 
cating, and the basket was placed in my hands, and the priest became 
a common Indian who said 'No more,' and the witnesses silently filed 
out, leaving me to settle the material part of the transfer with the 
chief who remained." 

A young lady, at the ranch where he stopped, informed him that 
some time previously she had seen this basket used in one of their 
ceremonies. "Silently approaching the circle, in which stood the chief 
and medicine man, she found they were, with much low-toned chant- 
ing, passing from hand to hand my basket, filled with some white, 
powdered substance, of which each partook in turn, after a short 
petition addressed to the sky. As soon as she was seen, the basket was 
hastily hidden, and no Indian moved or spoke until she had passed." 

As one of the chief and most valuable of the earthly possessions of 
the women, the basket used to figure prominently in the Feasts of the 
Dead so common among the Indians of Southern California. These 
feasts are not always conducted in the same manner, and they are far 
less frequent now than formerly, yet they generally include a period of 
general wailing for the dead. Images, representing the dead, are 
made, and these are placed in positions around a large oval shallow 
pit, in which a fierce fire is kept burning. Baskets and other valuable 
or useless property of the deceased are placed near her image. In their 
frenzy of grief the wailers jump to and fro over the pit, emitting the 
most horrible yells, and then, when all is ready, the images are thrown 
into the fire, to be shortly followed by the baskets. 

In this way many most valuable and priceless specimens of the 
weaver's art have been destroyed, and it is doubtless owing to an ap- 
peal having been made to the cupidity of the mourners, as well as to 
their intelligence, that the practice is now so nearly discontinued. 

Thomas Hill, the veteran artist of the Yosemite Valley, recently 
made a sketch of a funeral ceremony in which baskets largely figured. 
The story he told me, as near as I can recall it, is as follows : "A 
certain medicine man, who lived not far from Wawona, across the 
South Fork, was shot and killed by several Indians, because he tailed 
to cure their relatives of grippe. One of the murderers was caught 
and sentenced to death. He was hung at San Quentin, the California 
State penitentiary. His widow, who was well off, determined to give 
him a good entrance to the land of the departed, so she engaged two 
professional dancers and wailers, or mourners, and a master of cere- 
monies, and then sent out invitations to all her friends and neighbors 
to take part in the ceremony. 

As they were old friends, Mr. Hill and his daughter were allowed 
to be present. The usual feasting and wailing were indulged in, but 
the most interesting and picturesque feature of the affair was a death 
dance, led by the master of ceremonies, and in which the two pro- 
fessionals outdid themselves. There was a large bonfire, and around 
this the dancers ranged themselves in a circle. Each dancer had a 
basket, some of them being exceedingly fine ones — heirlooms that 



4 8 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



had been kept hidden from all vulgar eyes for just such an important 
event. To the low singing of the medicine man — there being no 
drum — the dance began. Gradually the song increased in power, and 
as it did so the dance increased in speed, fury and frenzy. The baskets 
were used in rhythmic movement with the motions of the dancers. 
Down to the feet, across the hips, before each breast in turn, then 




FIG. 27A. THE AUTHOR DESCRIBING THE NAVAHO SACRED BASKET. 



above the head. All this time the wailing was kept up, and tears 
rolled down the cheeks of the "best" mourners. At the height of the 
dance, at a signal from the leader, all the baskets were thrown into 
the fire, and, as the last flame from them expired, the dance was 
brought to a conclusion." 



BASKETRY IN INDIAN CEREMONIAL. 



49 




5° INDIAN BASKETRY. 

CHAPTER V. 
BASKET MAKING PEOPLE. 



As elsewhere stated, the scope of this book is limited to the basketry 
of the Southwest, the Pacific Coast and Alaska. It is within these 
boundaries that the art attained its highest perfection (as far as what 
is now American territory is concerned) and where it is now most 
practised in its primitive simplicity. 

The following accounts of the basket-making peoples necessarily 
are brief. They purpose merely to give an idea as to their location, 
so that the collector may have better clues to work upon for the identi- 
fication of specimens than the guess-work statements of some dealers. 
In any good library further information may be gained about the 
people named. 

; To visit the Navahoes, Hopi, Havasupais, Wallapais and Cheme- 
huevis, or the Mission Indians, west of Mt. San Jacinto, in California, 
th& collector should consult the Santa Fe Railway officials as their line 
runs through the territory occupied by these people. The Mescalero, 
White Mountain and other Apaches, the Pimas, Papagoes, Maricopas 
and Mission Indians east of Mt. San Jacinto, are reached by the Sunset 
Route of the Southern Pacific Railway. The Mid-California Indians, 
such as Monos, Yokuts, Tulares, etc., are reached by both lines. The 
Inyos can be found near the line of the Carson and Colorado River, 
which connects with the Central Route of the S. P. at Reno, Nevada. 
The Washoes and Paiutis are found around Reno, Carson and Wads- 
worth on the Central Route of the S. P. Co. The S. P. officials in San 
Francisco will gladly give information to those interested how they 
may best reach the Basket Makers of the Northern Pacific States, and 
the Pacific Coast Steamship Co., in the same city, will give like inform- 
ation about Alaska. 

Perhaps the finest and most delicate weaving of the North Ameri- 
can Indians is done by the Aleuts of Attu Island, the most westerly 
point of Alaska. This tiny island is the remotest and most iso- 
lated of the possessions of the United States. The homes, or "bara- 
bas," of the Aleuts are built of sod, and in these dreary places, which 
the long winter makes inconceivably dark and desolate they work at 
their interesting basketry, singing or crooning to themselves to help 
the weary days pass along. Some of their weaving - is shown in Fie. 45. 

In Alaska the chief basket-makers are the Tlinkits and Haidas. 
The former are located on the coast and islands of Southern Alaska, 
and are regarded as one of the most interesting of the Alaskan tribes. 
They excel "in all manner of carving in wood, bone, or stone ; they 
shape pipes, rattles and masks with all fantastical forms, from the 
hardest material. The women are equally skilfull in plaiting baskets. 
In former times they also made a practice of weaving the long hair 
of the mountain goat into cloaks and blankets in the most gorgeous 
colors and patterns." 



BASKET MAKING PEOPLE. 5 1 

The Haida people live on Dall and the Prince of Wales Islands, of 
Alaska, and the Queen Charlotte Islands, of British Columbia. 

The Kauiags, who inhabit Kadiak and its surrounding- islands, are 
also basket-makers, but are not so expert as the Thlinket and Haida 
women. They excel in embroidery. 

The Thompson Indians live in the southern interior of British 
Columbia, mostly east of the Coast Range, though they penetrate 
far into the heart of that range. There are three rivers in this territory 
— the Fraser, the Thompson (which is its principal tributary), and a 
smaller tributary of the Thompson, the Nicola. In or near the valleys 
of these rivers the principal villages of the Thompson Indians may be 




Haida Woman of Masset Weaving a Basket. 
Prom .ropuiar Science Monthly. 

found. They hunt in the country on either side. They are of the 
Salishan stock. Basketry is an important industry among them. 

Washington has several tribes who engage in basket-making on a 
small scale. These are the remnants of tribes which formerly used to 
occupy the whole territory. Among these, in Western Washington, 
are the Quinaielts. In the far north, on Cape Flattery, are the Makahs, 
belonging to the Nutka family. Still on the coast further south are the 
various branches of the great Salish family, often confused by local 
names that have no ethnological nor geographical significance. These 
extend south to the region of the Columbia River, where the Tsinuks, 
commonlv known as the Chinooks, are found. Inland, south of Mt. 



52 



INDIAN BASKETRY 





BASKET MAKING PEOPLE. 53 

St. Helen's, are the Klikatats, belonging to the Sahaptin family* and 
north are the Kowlitz, another tribe of the Salish family. Several 
tribes occupy the regions along the Puget Sound, mainly, however, 
belonging to the Salishes. These are the Miskuwallis, Puyullaps, 
Squaxin and Muckleshoots. The Snohomish and Skohomish peoples 
occupy the opposing sides of the upper portion of the Sound, and 
the Skagits and Lurnmi's are to the extreme north. Inland there are 
the Yakimas, and, on the borders of British Columbia, the Tenaskots. 

California has long been known as the home of particularly expert 
basket weavers. Possibly the finest baskets ever made, with but two 
or three exceptions, were the work of Gualalas, Yokuts or Pomas. 
The fertile well-wooded and well-watered western slopes of the ma- 
jestic Sierra Nevada were long the home of an aboriginal people which, 
in early days, was so large as to command the astonishment of travel- 
ers familiar only with the populations of the cold forests of the Atlantio 
States or the vast sterile wastes of the interior of the Continent. 
Stephen Powers estimates that at the beginning of the century there 
must have been not less than 700,000 Indians in California alone. 
But, alas! civilization has swept most of them away. Regardless of 
what the 'carpet knights who wield compiling-pens' in comfortable 
Eastern or European libraries say, we, who have studied the Indian 
in his own home, have heard his traditions of the origin of his races 
and the stories of their decline ; have seen the rapid diminution of pop- 
ulation in recent years, know full well that it is sadly too true in 
most cases that "Civilization bestows all its vices and few, if any, of its 
virtues upon the American Indian." 

The California Indian was very different from his warlike brother 
of the Atlantic Coast and Great Inland Basin. He was the type of 
quiet, contented, peaceful simplicity. Not that he never went to war, 
but he preferred to take life easy, enjoy his simple pleasures, engage 
in his religious dances, destroy his enemies by treacherous assassina- 
tion rather than by open warfare, and run away with a good looking 
girl when he was too poor to purchase her. Of the vast and teeming 
populations of this ideal land but scattered remnants remain. 

On the Klamath River are the Yuroks, Karoks and Modoks. The 
two former are generally called Klamaths. The Karoks (often spelled 
Cahrocs) are a fine, vigorous people, inhabiting the lower portion 
of Salmon River, and down the Klamath to a certain canyon a few 
miles above Waitspeh, where they merge into the Yuroks, who ex- 
tend along the Klamath River from the mouth of Trinity River to the 
Pacific. The Indians and white settlers have intermarried so that 
there is little pure blood among them. About Crescent City a few of 
the Tolowas still live, a bold, warlike people, hated by the Klamath 
River Indians, with whom they used to be constantly at war. 

On the lower Trinity River are the Hupas, the main reservation 
being in Hoopa Valley. Powers says of them : "Next after the Karok 
they are the finest race in all that region. They are the Romans of 
Northern California in their valor and their wide-reaching dominions ; 

* The Rev. W. C. Curtis, commenting upon the above statement, says: "I 
have been of the opinion that their habitat was north of the Columbia and 
east of the Cascade Mountains, centering in Klickitat and Yakima Counties, 
and that if there are any 'south of Mt. St. Helen's' they are out of place." 



54 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




VIG. 47. A WASHINGTON WEAVER 




FTG 48. A MONO WEAVER. 



BASKET MAKING PEOPLE. 



55 



they are the French in the extended diffusion of their language." At 
one time their power was potent over many of the neighboring tribes 
except the Klamaths. Now they are a poor, peaceable and submissive 
race, whose women are expert basket makers and whose men earn 
their living whenever and wherever possible by farming, cattle rais- 
ing, logging and giving general assistance to the whites. 

Around Humboldt Bay and Areata are a few of the Patawats, a 
black-skinned, pudgy, low-foreheaded race. 

On Eel River are a few basket-makers. These are the Viards, or 
Wiyots, and are closely allied to the Patawats. On the Mattole Creek 
and Bear River and a part of the Eel River are the Mattoals, and these 
are the better basket-makers. On the South Fork of the Eel River are 
a few Flonhos, as the Lolonkuhs are improperly named. 




PIG. 49. A WASHINGTON WEAVER 

Under the control of the Round Valley United States Indian Agen- 
cy are all that remain of the Wailakki, Yuki, and Tatu peoples, 
where among the women a few basket-makers are to be found. 

Sixty years or so ago in Mendocino County, at the very source of 
the Russian River, in Potter Valley, lived a small tribe of Indians 
known as the Pomos. According to Dr. Hudson they should be 
called Pomas. "The Kulanapan term for certain of its tribes j is 
Poma, not Porno. Po, is red or rusty color, ma, earth," and the people 
say they sprung from a certain red knoll in Potter Valley ; hence they 
are "the people of the red earth." 

About thirty years ago they moved to the Ukiah Valley into the 
midst of civilization, where, however, they have retained their distinc- 
tive Indian character and individuality. Their basketry is most ex- 
quisite, delicate, rich and beautiful. 

There are a few Indians still left of the Yokaia tribe, from which we 
get the corrupted Ukiah. Yo means "down below," and Kaia is a 
variation of the Poma Kai, valley." Hence these are the people 
who live in the vallev below the Pomas. 



56 



INDIAN BASKETRY 





BASKET MAKING PEOPLE. 57 

The Gallinuomers are a branch of the Poma family, and a few of 
them may be found in the hills near Cloverdale and Healdsburg, and, 
closely related to them, but living on a small creek which empties into 
the ocean in the northwest corner of Sonoma County, are the Gualalas. 
The latter were among the best of the older basket-makers, and happy 
is that collector who can show a Gualala basket among his treasures. 

The Ashochimi, commonly known as the Wappos, were once a 
powerful people inhabiting the region of the Geysers and Salistoga. 
Their name, Wappo, the unconquerable, was given to them by the 
Spaniards after a severe conflict in which the latter were defeated, 
though ied by the redoubtable General M. G. Vallejo. But few are 
now to be found. 

About Clear Lake are a few of the Kabiapeks and Makhelchels, and 
on the Sacramento a large family named the Patwin, from one branch 
of which we get the names Napa, Suisin, and (from one of the chiefs) 
Solano. On the upper Sacramento and upper Trinity still remain the 
Wintuns, many of which are known as Pitt River Indians. 
A pitiful few remain of the once fierce Shastika, who hover around the 
southern foothills of California's majestic giant, to whicn they have 
given a name. 

Best known because of their sullen and desperate war in the seven- 
ties are the Modoks, who live east of Shasta and as far north as the 
Goose Lake Valley. Their baby and fancy baskets have always 
been greatly admired. 

South of this region, even to the Tehachipi Mountains, are the re- 
mains of peoples who are rapidly passing away. They are mainly to 
be found in the foothills or slopes of the Sierra Nevada, and rejoice 
in the generic name "Diggers," as applied to them by the miners, 
cattle-men and ranchers, with whom they come in contact. Most of 
them dress in civilized costume, though few inhabit any other than 
the rude "wickiups" of their forefathers. Among them the basket- 
making habit is speedily dying out as the older women pass away. 
The proper names of these people are the Maidu. whose home was 
from the Sacramento to Honey Lake and from Big Chico Creek to 
Bear River; a little to the south are the Nishinam. But by far the 
largest nation of California was the Miwok. which occupied the terri- 
tory from the snow line of the Sierra to the San Joaquin River, and 
from the Cosumnes to the Fresno, including all the fertile and well- 
watered valleys of the Mokelumne, the Stanislaus, the Tuolumne, the 
Merced and the Chowchilla. It is from the fact that they are a "river" 
people that they get their name. 

Here and there small bands of Paiuti, who crossed the Sierras on 
predatory excursions and finally located, are to be found. They are 
expert basket-makers. Their chief location is midway between the 
original home of the Yokut nation, which used to extend from Fresno 
River to the Tehachipi. Many of the Indians now found in the 
region of the Tule River reservation, on Kern River, White River and 
Poso Creek and the Sierras near Walker Pass are Paiutis. 

A few Yokuts are still to be found on the San Joaquin and Kings 
Rivers, the Kaweah and a portion of Tule River, and those at or near 
old Fort Tejon are the southern branch of this divided people. As 
basket-makers they excel, and most of the so-called Tulare baskets 
are either Yokut or Paiuti, generally the former, and none but those 



58 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 





BASKET MAKING PEOPLE. 59 

who purchase on the ground can definitely state which they are. In 
the private collection of Mr. W. D. Campbell, of Los Angeles, are 
some fine specimens of Yokut work. 

The Yokuts once occupied all the western slope of the Sierra Nev- 
ada and the great plains from the Fresno River to Fort Tejon, but 
owing to conditions it is somewhat interesting to review they were 
divided into two sections and their identity almost completely lost. 
The great Sierra Nevada range afforded a complete barrier between 
the pastoral California and the fierce and nomadic Athapascan tribes, 
that roamed the trackless deserts of Arizona and Nevada. But as the 
struggle for existence became greater various tribes, as the Paiutis 
and Apaches, began to seek for and find the mountain passes, ana 
soon succeeded in making incursions into California territory. The 
result was the wedging apart of the Yokut nation by Nevada Paiutis. 
who seized Kern River, White River, Poso Creek and Kern Lake. 
This fact (in addition to one stated on a later page) affords the ex- 
planation for the existence of so many Nevada Paiutis in this South- 
ern California region. 

Of the Yokuts there were originally many divisions, each having 
its own name. Of those named by Powers few now remain. The 
Chuc-chances and Wi-chum-na are still in existence and are basket- 
makers. I found, in a recent visit to the Tule River reservation, three 
sub-tribal names not mentioned by Powers, one of which, the Nu-cha- 
a-wai-i, is the branch of the Yokuts to which the major portion of the 
reservation Indians claim they belong. The others were the Yo-al- 
man-i and the Yo-er-kal-i. These are the Fort Tejon branches of the 
Yokuts. To the basket collector these people are most interesting, 
and it is a source of regret that more has not been done to gather 
reliable information in regard to their tribal life. It will be a matter 
of surprise to many to learn that the Yokuts used to have a rattle- 
snake dance, similar in hideousness (though far less ceremonially 
complex) to that of the Hopi Indians of Arizona, and thk, m a meas- 
ure, explains the universal prevalence of the rattlesnake design in their 
basketry. 

Few dealers, when disposing- of a Kern, Tule, Kaweah or Kings 
River Indian basket, or one of the celebrated so-called "Tulare" bas- 
kets, are aware of the fact that, most probably, they are selling: the 
work of Yokuts or Paiutis. A Yokut basket is supposed to be entirely 
different from a Tulare, and yet, unless the Tulare happens to be a 
Paiuti (pardon the Irishism) there is no difference between the two, 
the Yokut being the tribal or national name, of which the Tulares are 
but a small section. 

Below the Tehachipi, throughout Southern California and in the 
Coast Valleys between Santa Barbara and Monterey, are all that re- 
main of the once numerous Mission Indians. These, as the name im- 
plies, were the tribes who were under the dominion of the Franciscan 
friars who controlled the Missions of California. The original names 
and locations of these people are now but a tradition, and they are 
generally known by some comparatively recently-given local name. 

The most populous of these is the San Luis Rey tribe, known as 
Luisenos. These are found on the Mesa Grande, Potrero, Temecula, 
Rincon, Los Coyotes, Pauma, and Pala reservations, and at villages 
at Warner's Ranch, San Luis Rey and San Felipe. 



6o 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 





BASKET MAKING PEOPLE. 



6l 



Th 3 Dieguinos occupy the Capitan Grande, Sycuan, Santa Ysabel, 
Campo, Luyapipe, and iVlorongo reservations, and the Cahuillas, the 
Agua Caliente, Santa Rosa, Cabazon, Torres, Twenty-nine palms and 
Cahuilla reservations. At Saboba (near San Jacinto) is a small village 
where both Luisenos and Cahuillas are to be found, sadly mixed up 
and intermarried with degenerate Mexicans. 

Among all the Mission Indians basket-making is carried on to a 
greater or lesser extent. The Cahuillas have some of the best basket- 
makers. 

In Nevada there are two tribes who are noteworthy as basket- 
makers. These are the Paiutis and Washoes. The former is much 
the larger tribe. Its members are scattered over the greater part of 
Nevada, and isolated families or kindred tribes are to be found as far 
south as the northern "rim" of the Grand Canyon, and eastwards as 
far as the middle of Southern Utah. The town of Winnemucca, on 
the line of the Central Pacific Railway, is named after the last great 
chief of the Paiutis. During the early days of American occupancy 
of Nevada this people gave our government a great deal of trouble 
on account of their warlike spirit. A constant and annoying war 
was kept up, until a number of the leaders, with their families, were 
made prisoners and removed under military surveillance, to old Fort 
Tejon, in Southern California. Here they remained for awhile, then 
more than half of them were allowed to escape. They fled to the foot- 
hills of the Sierras, east of where Bakersfield and Porterville now are, 
and, being kindly received by the tribes of the Kern, Tule and 
Kahweah Rivers settled there, where they and their descendants are 
still to be found. Later they were joined by the remnant of the pris- 
oners, who were released. As a result, the basketry of this Sierra foot- 
hill region varies. The pure Yokut and Paiuti types are to be found, 
and there is also a mixed product which shows the influence of both 
styles of weave. 

The Washoes are a small remnant of a once powerful tribe that 
inhabited the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada in the region of Reno 
and Carson City. Washoe City and County, Nevada, take their 
names from this tribe. 

In Arizona and New Mexico the chief basket makers are the Zunis, 
the Hopituh (commonly known as the Moki), the Mescalero, San Car- 
los and White Mountain Apaches, the Havasupais, the Pimas and the 
Maricopas. 

Zuni is well known as the home for several years of Lieut. Frank 
H. Cushing, whose recent death was such a great blow to the science 
of practical ethnology. It is composed of seven small "cities," the 
chief one of which is on the banks of the Zuni River, where wonderful 
and marvelous ceremonials are performed each month. It was to 
Zuni that Coronado marched from Mexico, 350 years ago, and it 
was there that Spanish despotism first set down its foot in the heart of 
what afterwards became United States territory. The weavers here 
are few and far from expert. 

The Hopi occupy seven villages on three Mesas about ten miles 
apart in Northern Arizona. Strange to say, no basket-makers are 
found in three of the villages, and of the other four three make one kind 
of basket and the fourth another kind. In the long, long ago the Hopi- 
tuh migrated from southern and central Arizona to their present 



62 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 56 DA-SO-LA-LE, WASHOE BASKET MAKER. 



BASKET MAKING PEOPLE. 63 

homes. They left, in the Red Rock country, several villages which 
have recently been excavated. In these, large numbers of basket frag- 
ments were discovered. Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, the chief authority on 
the Hopi, says that in his excavations at the Chevelon ruin, about 
fifteen miles east of Winslow, Arizona, he found much basketry in the 
graves that had the forms of the plaques still manufactured at Oraibi 
and on the middle Mesa. 

The Mescalero Apaches occupy a reservation in the middle portion 
of Southern New Mexico. It is an elevated mountainous region of 
nearly 500,000 acres, with many and various trees, and yet water is 
so uncertain that little over 500 acres are available for practical farm- 
ing purposes. Altogether there are about 500 Indians, men, women, 
and children. The nearest railway station is Las Cruces, on the main 
line of the Santa Fe, no miles away, hence they see very few whites, 
though the town of Tularosa with several hundred Mexicans, is only 
18 miles away. The women of this tribe make a rude basket which 
will be described later. 

The San Carlos and White Mountain Apaches live in Southeastern 
Arizona. There are in the neighborhood of 4000 to 5000 of them, 
but the number of basket-makers is comparatively small. These are 
the people whose very name strikes terror to many hearts, and yet, 
when reasonably treated, no more intelligent and appreciative Indians 
are to be found in the country. The basketry of these weavers is 
remarkably interesting, both for form and design, as all who have 
seen the beautiful collection in the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory in New York City will acknowledge. 

The Havasupais are a small tribe of not more than 200 men, 
women, and children, inhabiting one of the side canyons tributary 
on the South to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in Northern 
Arizona. Their name is poetic and is gained from the chief charac- 
teristic of their rocky canyon home. Just above where their village 
begins a thousand springs of varying sizes burst forth from under the 
rocks and form a singularly beautiful stream, which they term the 
"Ha-ha-va-su," ''water blue." They are the pai, people, of this 
blue water. They were named by the Spaniards the Kohonino, and 
their basketry is occasionally found among other tribes bearing 
this name. They trade largely with the Hopis and Navahoes and 
exchange baskets for blankets, ponies, etc. Though their basketry 
is not of fine weave, the designs are often striking, and a good 
specimen is eagerly sought after and highly prized. 

The Pimas and Maricopas inhabit their reservation in Southern 
Arizona, not far from Phoenix. These Indians have always been noted 
for their quiet, peaceful and pastoral character, and they are great 
basket makers. They live a semi-nomadic life. Their basketry con- 
tains some wonderful specimens of Greek and Oriental figures, and 
in the variations of the Swastika alone, they have given the student 
enough splendid examples to illustrate several volumes. 

For a long time it was doubted whether the Navahoes made 
baskets. This nomadic and interesting tribe occupies a large reser- 
vation in the Northeastern part of Arizona, lapping over a little into 
both New Mexico and Utah. But, as I have shown in the chapter 
devoted to legendary lore connected with basketry, there is little 
doubt that they are properly a basket-making people, though the art 



6 4 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 





BASKET MAKING PEOPLE. 



65 





FIG. 60. HOPI YUCCA BASKET. 




PIG. 61. HOPI SACRED PLAQUE 



FIG. 59. ORAIBI BASKET MAKER. 



66 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




Q 

«! 

H 
H 
tf 

B 

Eh 

M 

M M 

2q 



M "< 

> H 

H P 

a 

K 
| -r< 

H 
U 




BASKET MAKING PEOPLE. 



67 



has largely declined amongst them. The reasons for this decline 
are obvious. Their women find pleasanter, more congenial and more 
profitable employment in the art of blanket weaving, in which they 
excel, their work comparing favorably with the highest art produc- 
tions of the world. They have large flocks of sheep, and it is more 
to their interest to wash, dye. card, spin and weave the wool, which 
the sheep bring to their very doors, than spend long and weary days in 





FIG. 65. 



FIG. 66. 



FIG. 69. A FINISHED MENOMINI 
BASKET. 



making the long and weary journeys to gather the various materials 
needed for basket-making. 

Still, there are a few Navaho basket weavers, and genuine speci- 
mens purchased from the weavers themselves or satisfactorily 
authenticated are valuable acquisitions to a collection. 

It has also been stated that the Chemehuevis and Wallapais do not 
make baskets. This is an error. Both tribes make a few baskets, the 
former being excellent weavers as will be seen from the specimen 
here shown (Fig. 63). 

The Chemehuevis live on a reservation on the California side of 
the Colorado River not far from the town of Needles, and the Walla- 
pais occupv their reservation adjoining that of the Havasupai on the 
west. 

The Wallapais had almost lost the art when, fortunately for them, 
Miss Frances S. Calfee was sent among them as a field matron. For 
over seven years she has worked with them, and from their very name 
being a reproach and a synonym of debauchery and degradation 



68 



INDEAN BASKETRY. 




BASKET MAKING PEOPLE. 



6 9 



they have reached a degree of self-respect that is highly commendable. 
In her endeavors for their betterment Miss Calfee has reintroduced 
the art of basket-making, and, recently I secured five specimens of 
their work that show considerable ability and make it certain that, if 
the art is cultivated, the Wallapais may soon rank as a great basket- 
making people. 

Located in the Northeastern interior of the State of Wisconsin, on a 
360 square mile reservation, are the Menomini Indians. They are mat 




FIG. 67. 



FIG. 6S. 



weavers and basket makers, and a brief reference to their work and 
methods is here introduced for comparison with the work of the In- 
dians of the West and Southwest. 

Their bark mats are woven as is shown in the accompanying full 
page engraving from Mary Irvin Wright's painting. They are made 
from the inner bark of the cedar, cut in strips averaging half an inch in 
width. Some of the mats are nearly white, others are colored dark red 
and sometimes black with native vegetal dves. The decoration is effec- 



70 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



tively produced in diamond and lozenge patterns, as well as in zigzag 
lines, both by color and by the weaving of the weft strips, the latter 
being accomplished by taking up and dropping certain members of the 
warp strips. 

Baskets are made on the same principle of plaiting as is employed 
for bark mats. The strips are made from black elm, the necessary limbs 




FIG. 71. bLU J .FER FORM OP BABY CKAULii, MADE BY ALASKAN 
1AUIANS OP CEDAR BARK. 

being from 3 to 4 inches in diameter (Fig. 65) ; these are thoroughly 
hammered with a wooden mallet (Fig. 66) until the individual layers of 
the branch are detached from the layers immediately beneath. These 
layers are then cut into thin narrow strips by means of the knife univers- 
ally used (Fig. 67). The strips are kept in coils (Fig. 68) until ready 
for use, when they are soaked in water. Fig. 69 illustrates a finished 
basket. 

Cutting is always done away from the hand holding the material to 
be cut, and toward the body. 




Jf'iG. b«a.— "¥UKU.T GiJtvD WEAVERS. 

The club or mallet employed in hammering the elm wood is about 
20 inches long and has one end thinner than the other, so as to form a 
handle. 



BASKET MAKING PEOPLE. 



71 




Cahuilla Indians Collecting: Basket Material among the Palms of Palm Canon. 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



CHAPTER VI. 

MATERIALS USED IN INDIAN BASKETRY. 

It would be a most interesting study, had one the time to devote 
to it, to .see how change of environment has affected the basketry of 
any one tribe or race of people. Take the great Athapascan stock of 
central Alaska as an illustration. In this — possibly their original 
habitat — they wove with such materials as came to hand, birchbark, 
spruce roots, quills and the like. One migration brought some of the 
stock down into Oregon and Northern California. There they made 
their ware of hazel twigs, redbud, sweet grass, pine root, fern stalk, 
etc. Other migrations formed the Apache, the Wallapai and the 
Havasupai peoples, the first roaming the fierce deserts of Soutnern 
Arizona, and Northern Mexico; the second occupying the wastes of 
the Painted Desert, the depths of Peach Springs and Diamond Creek 
Canyons, and the pine clad summits and slopes of the Wallapai Moun- 
tains ; while the third hides in the seclusion of the Canyon of the 
Havasu (Cataract Canyon), where willows and martynia abound. 

Far away to the Northeast another migration brought the great 
Navaho family, and until recently it was not known whether they made 
baskets or not, but as I have elsewhere shown we now know that they 
are basket-makers. 

Yet all these people are of one family and blood. Tinne in Alaska, 
Hupa in Northern California, Apache, Wallapai and Havasupai in 
Arizona, Navaho in New Mexico, each has a basketry, distinct and 
individual, and yet all follow somewhat the same family instincts and 
traits. A close student might possibly be able to determine from their 
basket work their family relationship, and it could not fail to be both 
instructive and interesting to trace the changes and modifications in 
their art compelled by the different environments*. 

Dr. Franz Boas, in his concluding chapter of Teit's monograph 
on the Thompson Indians, makes some interesting observations upon 
this subject. 

Hence it may be stated in general terms that the materials used 
for the basketry of any particular people is largely determined by that 
people's environment. 

While, primarily, all basketry may be divided into two types, the 
woven and the sewed, there are a large number of species of each 
type. These subclasses or species were largely determined by the 
material the aboriginal weaver found at her hands when the time for 
weaving came, and the same law of environment shaping results is still 
seen in nearly all aboriginal work. One of the results of our modern 
and civilized methods of transportation is to largely do away with the 
limitations of our own surroundings, bv placing in our hands whatever 
we need, no matter from how great a distance. But the Amerind has 



* Since the above was in type Major J. W. Powell has convinced me that 
the Havasupais and Wallapais belong to the Yuman and not to the Atha- 
pascan stock. 



MATERIALS USED IN INDIAN BASKETRY. 



73 



not learned to utilize this modern force to any great extent, and where 
she has it has proven disastrous, as, for instance, where she purchases 
imported aniline dyes instead of using her own more reliable and beau- 
tiful native dyes. 

In the chief material, however, the willows, grasses, etc., of which 
she makes the warp and woof of her basketry she is still subject to this 
law of environment. Hence, to the intelligent student of basketry, 
the ware itself becomes a book from which he may read many curious 
things — and read aright, too, — such as the geographic and physical con- 
ditions of the country in which the weaver lived and worked, the nature 
of the soil, the color of the rocks, the vegetable growths, etc. 

This is the key to the diversity of material found in Indian basketry. 
It explains why the Hopi use yucca and fine grass ; the Paiutis a coarse 




FIG. 



CAHUILLA COILED BASKETS. McCLOUD RIVER CARRYING BASKET. 



fibre ; the Havasupais, willows ; the Southern California Indians, tule 
root and squaw weed ; the Monos other tender shoots, roots and fibres ; 
the Pomas something different ; and the tribes further north the bark of 
the cedar and the root of the spruce. 

On this subject Dr. Mason well writes : — 

"There is no work of woman's fingers that furnishes a better oppor- 
tunity for the study of techno-geography, or the relationship existing 
between an industry and the region where it may have been developed, 
than the textile art. Suppose a certain kind of raw material to abound 
in any area or country ; you may be sure that savage women search it 
out and develope it in their crude way. Furthermore, the peculiar 
qualities and idiosyncrasies of each substance suggest and demand a 
certain treatment. Women of the lowest grade of culture have not been 
slow in discovering this ; so that between them and the natural product 



74 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



there has been a kind of understanding or co-operation leading to 
local styles." 

"The most simple as well as the most beautiful types come from 
Siam and the other lands of the bamboo. The basket-maker provides 
herself with a number of small rods and a quantity of split bamboo 
of uniform thickness. The rods are coiled like a watch spring, and 
united firmly by wrapping a splivt of bamboo around two rods contin- 
uously from the center of the bottom of the basket on to the last stitch 
on the border. As the work goes on the splint passes between two 
stitches of the preceding round and over the fundamental rod. 

Ware quite as beautiful as that of the far east may be seen in the 
spruce country of North America, where the fine roots furnish a tough 
fiber when split. 

Now, suppose that the woman in sewing her coil introduced a thin 
splint or some tough grass between her rods in going around; that 
would furnish a kind of packing or caulking, which would render the 




FIG. 73. FINE CALIFORNIA BASKETS. 

work water-tight. And that is the case with the Indians of British 
Columbia and Washington in making the baskets in which they boil 
their food by means of hot stones. 

Going farther south, the fundamental rod becomes a bunch of 
coarse grass or the split stems of palm or other tropical plant. The 
sewing in such cases is done with stripped yucca or finely split and 
dressed splints of osier or rhus, of stems of grass, so nicely and homo- 
geneously dressed as to enable the maker to produce a basket with 
hundreds of thousands of stitches over the surface which do not show 
the slightest variation in size. 

Great variety is secured in this ware by the material, by the use 
of colored stitches, and by the introduction of birds' feathers, beads, 
and other decorative objects into the texture. 

In the arctic regions spruce root is the material with which the 
coil is sewed. In California it is split osier and rhus. In the Hopi 
Pueblos it is extremely finely divided yucca fibre, while the stems 
serve for the body of the coil. The tropical regions of both hemis- 
pheres abound with palms of many varieties whose leaves when split 
supply the very best material for the coiled ware. 



MATERIALS USED IN INDIAN BASKETRY. 



75 



In Tierra del Fuego, as well as in Japan, the basket-maker produces 
an attractive variety in the coiled stitch by passing once around the 
standing part of the sewing splint, then between the coil rods, down, 
through, back, and over, to repeat the process for each stitch. Of all 
the varieties there are many subtypes too intricate to mention here. 
We have all the generic forms." 

According to Jackson the Pacific Coast baskets were originally made 
for carrying and storing water, as well as for the uses already indicated ; 
and hence the lightest, cleanest and most durable materials were 
selected. These are found in various species of willow, the "chippa" of 
the Southern Indians, while the fibers of the red bud (Cercis occident- 
alis) served the same, purpose in the North, and are equal to those of 
the palm and bamboo in flexibility and strength. Among grasses used 
in the woof, the smooth, wiry culms of vilfa and sporobolus were pre- 
ferred. 




FIG. 74. A PORTION OF THE PLIMPTON COLLECTION, SAN DIEGO, CAL. 

"In a country where the grasses are tough and pliable, like the 
sea-island grasses of the Aleutian archipelago, baskets have mostly 
been constructed from such fibre and are soft and pliable, partaking of 
the nature of bags. Where the lithe willow, or osier, abounds, both 
its branch and bark have been used, the larger stems forming the frame 
and the lighter twigs the filling ; these baskets generally stand upright 
and take the shape of pots, jars and vases, acording to their purpose. 
The fibre of the yucca — the soap plant or Spanish bayonet — and many 
of the cacti have been used in this manufacture. The keen-sighted 
Indian women readily find in the mountain valleys and along the water 
courses the proper material to make into the plastic wands which they 
so deftly weave into these graceful vessels. They are very skillful at 
splitting the stems of the willow, the osier, the sanvis, the swamp ash, 
the vine-maple and other long-fibred quick growing plants, and pre- 
serving- this material for use when needed. The proper season for 
gathering the material is when the stalk has just completed its growth 



/O INDIAN BASKETRY. 

and before the sap hardens into woody substance." 

One can almost see and hear the squaw as she makes her way for 
miles through the sweet woods, before the sap has gone and the pliable 
fibre has hardened into wood, to the places where she finds the proper 
material for the plastic bands and grasses which she intends to weave 
into her baskets. One can follow this woman of bronze as she trudges 
homeward, bending under her heavy load of pungent twigs and bark 
and grasses and leaves and roots. 

"The long withes split from the rods are rolled up and protected 
from too much heat or moisture ; just before using they are thoroughly 
soaked in water and woven while wet and soft. This plastic woof is 
so firmly beaten down that a new basket, of the finer make?, will hold 
water for some time ; to make them permanent water jars, either for 




FIG. 75. APACHE AND PIMA COILED BASKETS, SIFTER AND CARRYING BASKET 

FROM OREGON. 

household use or for transporting water on their journeys, the inter- 
stices are filled with pitch of fir trees." 

In an article on "The Basket of the Klickitat," by Mrs. Velina P. 
Molson, she thus describes the material used in the manufacture of the 
baskets of this primitive and interesting people. 

"To gather, prepare and manipulate the raw material meant time 
and arduous labor. The foundation consists of the roots of young 
spruce and cedar trees; it was macerated and torn into threadlike 
shreds, and soaked for weeks and months in water to rid it of any 
superfluous vegetable matter and to render it strong and pliable. The 
ornamentation is almost all made of Xerophvllum Tenax, which is com- 
monly called "squaw's grass." It grows on the east side of the Cascade 
Mountains, and can only be gathered during the late summer, when 
the snow has melted and the grass has matured. This grass resembles 
the plant of garden cultivation. Yucca Filamentosa. 



MATERIALS USED IN INDIAN BASKETRY. 



// 



"The broad, swordlike leaves are split into the requisite width, and 
if they are to remain the natural color, an ivory white, they are soaked 
in water only; but if they are to be dyed they are soaked in mud and 
charcoal for black, for brown a dye made from the willow bark, and 
for yellow a longer time in the water. 

"Sometimes the bast or inner bark of the cedar tree is dyed black 
instead of the grass, but it is not so durable owing to its short fibrous 
texture; or the willow bark itself is used instead of dyeing the grass 
brown; but the willow looks slightly shriveled, and neither presents 
the smooth surface as when made of squaw's grass, although only 
apparent to the practiced eye.'' 

H. K. McArthur in a paper on the Basketry of the Northwest says : 
"The labor of gathering materials and preparing them, before the 
work of construction begins, occupies many months, and is most 





















" : *i.'C*>V , V "V > w ^ ' ': ' " 












^ iV 










; 














o-^..- 


*~ 




i 


- 

- : «JI 


( 




ffmt 





FIG. 78.— KLAMATH TRAY; SKOKOMISH BASKET; IDAHO POUCH OP 
CEDAR-ROOT AND GRASS; ALASKAN SIDDED BASKETS AND BAG.* 

arduous. The weary and toilsome climb to distant mountain tops, for 
rare and beautiful grasses that only adorn the face of nature in these 
lofty solitudes ; the digging of certain tenacious roots and cutting of 
twigs, bark and fibre, all of which must be cured, made into proper 
lengths and macerated to a desired flexibility before being woven into 
the intricate and enduring beauty of baskets ; coaxing from coy Nature 
her secrets of dyes, whether from peculiarly colored earth, charcoal, 
extracts of barks or immersion in water. 

"Who of those who live in the Williamette valley has not seen some 
ancient dame trudging home, with dew-bedraggled skirts, with a bundle 
of hazel sticks on her bent shoulders, after an early expedition to the 
copse, or, it may be, grasses and roots from a neighboring swamp ? 



*The Idaho Pouch is undoubtedly of Skokomish make, the row of close around the 
top being one of their well-known designs. 



78 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 





MATERIALS USED IN INDIAN BASKETRY. 79 

She is ancient, because in our day, the beautiful art is not taught to 
the young women ; they do not desire to know it, and so the work is 
relegated to only the aged, who are skillful and learned. 

"Summer is the season for this preliminary work. The kindly sun 
favors these children of Nature, the twigs and grasses are flexible, the 
barks are easily peeled and are rich in juices, and the store of materials 
is gathered in. 

The baskets of the Cayuses, Umatillas : Nez Perces and Wascos, 
and others living east of the Cascades, are not stiffly woven, but are 
made of split corn husks and the wild hemp of the Walla Walla valley. 

The Shastas largely use sticks of hazel. The sticks are gathered 
in great quantities, the best ones from ground denuded by fire of its 
natural growth of fir and hemlock, where, they spring up straight and 
strong from the rich soil. The teeth play no small part in peeling off 
the bark. 

The fine white grass, used by the Shastas in the manufacture of 
their baskets is gained from great elevations in the mountains. It is 
almost like ivory in smoothness and tint. I have found the Indians up 
as high as the snow line of Mt. Shasta in summer time, gathering this 
exquisite grass. 

The Mendocino county and Hoopa valley Indians make cradles 
for the infants from the peeled stems of tough young trees and shrubs." 

The Tlinkits of Southern Alaska use spruce roots, split and 
soaked in water. 

The Chilcotin, Lillooet, Lower Thompson Indians, and others 
that inhabit the Cascade Mountains in the State of Wash- 
ington, make beautiful coiled basketry of cedar twigs. They use 
the small trailing roots of the cedar (Thuja Gigantea, Nutt). With 
a tool common with them, called a root digger, they dig up those 
portions of the root that are about the thickness of a finger, and of the 
required length, and bury them in the ground to keep them fresh. Be- 
fore using they are peeled or scraped with a sharp stone or knife and 
hung up to dry. Then they are split with the bone awl. Those splints 
that are of equal width and thickness are used for stitching purposes, 
the others as material for forming the coil. In making the coil the 
stitch of the upper coil is made to pass through, and thus split, the splint 
of the lower coil. Work of this kind is practically water-tight. A less 
durable kind is made by substituting strips of cedar-sap for the cedar 
root strips of the inner coil. 

The chief ornamentation of this basketry is made by hooking in 
strips of grass and bark with the stitches, so that they cover the latter 
on the outside only. Teit thus describes the process : "This is done by 
bringing the piece of grass over the inside of the last stitch, then doub- 
ling it back and catching the doubled end with the next stitch. The 
outsides of some baskets are completely covered in this manner. The 
grass used is that called nho' itlexin. It is long, very smooth, and of 
a glossy yellow-white color. To make it whiter, diatomaceous earth 
is spread over it and it is then beaten with a flat stick on a mat or 
skin. The grass is seldom dyed, as the colors are said to fade soon. 
The Upper Fraser and the Lytton band sometimes use Elymus triti- 
coides, Nutt, instead of this grass. The bark used is that of Prunus 
demissa, Walpers, which is either left in its natural light reddish-brown 
color, or is dyed by burying it in damp earth. By thus keeping it 



8o 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



underground for a short time, it assumes a dark brown color, while 
wuL-ii Kept longer it becomes quite black.'' 

The upper Traser band of Thompson Indians occasionally make 
baskets nowadays from corn leaves and stalks. 

'"The Indian women of the temperate belt were intimately 
acquainted everywhere with the willow, rhus, cedar bark, Indian hemp, 
bullrushes, cat-tail, vernal and other grasses, and many other kinds 
of filament ; with their colors, and the best way of dyeing them ; and, 
what is most noteworthy in this connection, these cunning savage 
women knew so well what to do with each kind, and what each kind 
could and could not do, that every effort to improve their methods 
has failed." — Mason. 

Dr J. W. Hudson says of the Pomas : 

"Collecting and preparing the materials that compose a basket is 
almost as interesting as the weaving. The most necessary material 




FIG. 79. YOKUT AND POMA BASKETS FROM THE P RIVATE COLLECTION 
OF W. D. CAMPBELL, LOS ANGELES, CAL. 

used is "kah hoom" (water gift), and "kah lall (water son) or willow 
shoots. Both are in baskets of nearly all sizes or uses. Kah lall gives 
strength and shape, while the kah hoom knits together the ribs and 
preserves smoothness in outline. These two plants as their names 
imply, grow beside or in the shallow edges of nearly all water courses 
in Mendocino. 

The kah hoom is taken from the roots of a California variety of the 
well known slough grass, "carex Mendocinoensis," so abominable to 
orchardists, and so defiant of his plough and hoe in efforts towards its 
eradication. The finest kah hoom, because the toughest and most 
capable of being evenly split, grows in low, sandy bottom land, and 
necessarily near a running stream. 

The Russian River near the small town of Hopland, annually over- 
flows several hundred adjacent acres, and before the thrifty rancher 
found the true value of this rich alluvium in hop culture the digger from 
rancherias far and near would come and gather these preferred rnrri- 



MATERIALS USED IN INDIAN BASKETRY - . 



81 



During the summer months and even far into the fall, as long as the 
rising waters would permit, temporary shahs of woven willow and 
alder shoots were always occupied by transient bands of Indians. Men 
and women here worked alike ; for this occasion the dignity and indo- 
lence of the hombre were laid aside. Whether he really liked the work, 
or whether envy of his neighbor's success induces him to assist his 
wife, it is difficult to say. Armed with a clam shell in one hand and 
a short stick in the other, he takes a bunch of this grass as a starting 
point, and lays bare its radiating roots. Selecting the best of these, 
he grasps the root between the first and second toe, and gently lifts it 
a little, to indicate its hidden course under the sand to the next bunch. 
This fact ascertained the clam shell scoops out, while the stick carefully 
loosens all stones or hardened earth in its path, till soon a little trench 
some three or four inches deep, uncovers the beginning of this kah 
hoom gem. The work is slow and careful, lest the sharp edge of a rock 
cut or bruise the tender fibre, whilst in the rear like a ship's rudder the 
guiding foot and protecting toe keep pace. Perhaps in half an hour, ac- 
cording to the condition of the soil and disposition of the digger, the en- 
tire length (four or five feet) of a cream-colored scaly cord about half the 
size of a pencil is uncovered. This is cut out as long as possible, taken 
immediately to the river's edge, and stretched out in shallow water. 
If exposed too long in this state to the warm air it becomes dry and 
brittle beside increasing the difficulty of removing the outer rough 
bark. A good day's work for a man is ten kah hoom, but a majella 
will often double this amount, not because she is quicker, but because 
she abjures those little necessities of her liege's noonday hours, the 
pipe and siesta. 

During the night the gem becomes thoroughly soaked, and day- 
break finds the old people of the party hard at work literally and. 
actually with tooth and toe nail, stripping off the bark. This process 
is facinating, yet often repulsive, to one seeing it for the first time. 
She will put one end of the root in her mouth, mumble it around 
between her gums, till finally the warmth and saliva break up the 
adhesion and fray the bark loose. This fray is then held with perhaps 
the only remaining fang in her jaw, and assisted with hands and toes 
in holding the cord taut, she scrapes it clean. A satisfaction as to the 
thoroughness of the job is manifested by a grunt, and the ejectment 
from her mouth of accumulated debris. For hours this ancient but 
willing creature will squat in the broiling sun, for all the world as one 
pictures an anthropoid ape or other quadrumana ; either or both feet 
are in use constantly, as essential to her task as teeth or hands. The 
kah hoom has now reached its second stage in preparing, and is only 
half of its original size, closely resembling a long, creamy-tmted tendon 
fresh from the leg or neck of the deer. 

When a family starts for home these roots are made into coils and 
packed in baskets to be carried on the majella's backs, be the distance 
five or twenty-five miles. The procession files out, the hombres in 
front, burdened only with what the females cannot carry ; the children 
follow, close in front of their mothers, while the old ones waddle behind, 
occasionally reminded of the dangers from a panther to anyone who 
lags. 

A few days later the kah hoom is split into flat strings, varving 
in width from a tenth to a twentieth of an inch, and oftimes as thin as 



82 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



an apple peeling. This was formerly accomplished by aid of a bit of 
siiarp obsidian found in the mountains, but now the American case 
knife is universally known and used. The fibre of this root is very 
tough, and the grain so even that a tyro can split it from end to end 
without a knife and cause no flaw. Splittings from two roots make 
a coil convenient to handle, and this is hung up in the shah ready 
for the basket maker. 

The next important thread is called mil-lay, which is the generic 
digger term for any dark red bark. Its chief requisites other than 
color are strength and thinness. The red bud, sumach, and rhus 
all produce good mil-lay ; but the best and rarest specimen is the 
thin skin of a small deciduous shrub growing high up the mountain 
side. To learn its habitat, botanical classification, or common English 
name, if any. has thus far proven an impossibility. Cajolery and 
patient search have been fruitless ; we only know that the shoots or 




FIG. SO. FINE YOKUT DANCE AND OTHER BASKETS. 



twigs are straight, leafless, and never larger than a quarter of an inch 
in diameter. 

Steeped for an hour in hot water, the skin loosens so that a simple 
incision down its length with the thumb nail is ample to complete 
what the confined steam underneath had commenced. These woody 
cylinders being split into desired widths are coiled and hung with 
the kah hoom. 

We have now the two threads necessary in weaving baskets of 
utility, but there is a third one, called tsu wish, or triplets, because 
its handsome variety is taken from the trifoliate stems of the maiden 
hair fern (Adiantum). The root of the tule (scirpus) furnishes a long 
tsu wish, but is less esteemed than the fern, being coarser, and the 
color not quite so black or permanent. 

As it is an aquatic plant the hombre must wade after it, his 
educated toes performing almost the entire process of digging, select- 
ing, and loosening up the root. Its color when first taken out is a 
dirty brown, but when denuded of its useless bark it is similar in 



MATERIALS USED IN INDIAN BASKETRY. 



83 



appearance to the kah hoom, differing in being shorter, and studded 
with minute lateral rootlets. 

Slitting into strings requires its quota of caution, for tsu wish 
is rather cross-grained and will allow no carelessness. Like the mil- 
lay and kah hoom, these strings are also coiled and hung up for the 
basket maker. 

Tsu wish, however, is valued more than either of the others, 
ranking next to the kiah, or wampum. 

"One hundred kiah will purchase a small bunch of tsu wish, while 
this amount is equivalent to five bunches of kah hoom, or six of mil- 
lay. It is very rarely seen in any but ornamental baskets, or those 
pertaining to political or religious uses." 

Among the Snohomish Indians the white work is made of grasses 
that, when dry, are white naturally. "The most common grass used 




FIG. 81. THREE TYPES OF HOPI BASKETRY. THE CENTER BASKET IN FRONT IS 
A HADRUYA OF HAVASUPAI WEAVE. 

for this purpose is the so-called 'Mountain Grass,' found in the neigh- 
borhood of the Cascade Mountains ; it dries to a creamy white with a 
sort of a half-gloss upon its surface. For the black shade, succulent 
roots or grasses are chosen which naturally dye to a black. Some- 
times the purplish-black stem of the maiden-hair fern is used in the 
texture of the work of finer texture. As a rule the simpler the color 
scheme the more likely it is to be permanent and durable — and, indeed, 
even beautified by the mellowing of time. 

"Further chromatic complexity is secured by the use of juices of 
various berries and the coloring principles of the commoner indigenous 
plants." 

Most of the California Indians use the willow — chippa — the long 
twigs of which are in favor the world over for this purpose. For 
the woof the wood of the redbud (cercis occidentalis ; Indian name, 



8 4 



INDIAN BASKETRY 



pad-dilj, which is split up with flints or the finger-nails into fine 
strings, used substantially as thread. The willow twig is passed round 
and round the basket, the butt of one lapping the tip of the other, 
while the red-bud strings are sewn over the upper and under the lower. 

The Yuroks use willow twigs and pine roots, and, for ornamenta- 
tion, black rootlets or strips of bark. 

On Tule River the Yokuts use for the frame work or warp, not 
willows, but long stalks of grass (Sporobolus) ; and for the threads 
on the woof various barks or roots split fine — pine roots for a white 
color, willow bark for a brown, and some unknown bark for a black. 

In Southern California, according to Professor C. F. Holder, "the 
material differs according to locality. The tule grass (Juncus ro- 
bustus) is commonly employed. This grass is collected and dried, 




FIG. 82. APACHE AND PIMA BOWLS, ANCIENT BA SKET PROM SIA, PAP AGO 
MEAL BOWL, UTE WINNOWER, HAVASUPAI WATER BOTTLE. 



and what are often thought to be brushes by strangers are merely 
bunches of this tule prepared for the weavers' use. A tall, thin grass 
(Vilfa rigens) is used as the body of the coil, about which pieces of 
the juncus are wound. Such of the latter as are intended for orna- 
mentation are dyed black by steeping in water portions of Sueda diffusa, 
and a rich yellowish brown is produced in a like manner from the 
plants Dalea Emoryi and Dalea Polyadenia. The bottoms of large 
baskets are often strengthened by introducing twigs of Rhus aromatica 
or aromatic oak." 

Among the Cahuillas the inner grass of the coil is called "su-lim," 
and is akin to our broom corn in appearance. The coil is made by 
wrapping with the outer husk of the stalk of the squaw weed and 
the tule, the former being termed "se-e-let" and the latter "se eel." 

The Hopi makes two kinds of plaques and baskets, viz. : The willow 
and the Yucca or Amole. The former kind is made in the village of 
Oraibi only, and the latter in the three villages of the middle mesa 



MATERIALS USED IN INDIAN BASKETRY. °3 

of Tusayan. The filling for the coil of the latter style is a grass, 
which looks somewhat similar to our broom corn, but which bears 
the name "wu-u-shi." The outer wrapping of the coil is shredded from 
the Amole — one of the Yucca family — and termed by the Hopi "mo-bi." 

Mr. F. V. Coville says that the Panamint Indian women of Death 
Valley, California, make their baskets of the year-old shoots of tough 
willow (Salix lasiandra), the year-old shoots of aromatic sumac 
(Rhus trilobata), the long black horns on the pods of the unicorn 
plant (Martynia proboscidea), and the long red roots of the tree 
yucca (Yucca brevifolia). The first two named give the light wood 
colors, the third the black color and the fourth the red. The women 
prepare the willow and the sumac in the same way. The bark is 
removed from the fresh shoots by biting it loose at the end and 
tearing it off. The woody portion is scraped to remove bud protu- 
berances and allowed to dry. As these Indians make coiled basketry, 
the rods just described form the basis of the work. The splints for 
sewing are prepared as follows : A squaw selects a fresh shoot, 
breaks off the too slender upper portion, and bites one end so that 
it starts to split into three nearly equal parts. Holding one of these 
parts in her teeth and one in either hand, she pulls them apart, guiding 
the splits with her hand so dexterously that the whole root is divided 
into three nearly even portions. Taking one of these, by a similar 
process she splits off the pith and the adjacent less flexible tissue 
from the inner face and the bark from the outer, leaving a pliant, 
strong, flat strip of young willow or sumac wood. This serves as a 
fillet in sewing or whipping the coils of the basket together, or in 
twined basketry two of them become the weft or filling. The coiled 
basketry is most carefully made. In the olden times a stout, horny 
cactus spine from the devil's pincushion (Echinocactus polycephalus), 
set in a head of hard pitch, furnished the needle. When grass stems 
are carried around inside the coil with the shoot of willow or rhus 
they form a water-tight packing for the pot baskets. Patterns in red 
and black are wrought in by means of fillets from the martynia or 
fern root. 

The Pimas and Maricopas use the sisal willow, the squaw weed, the 
skunk weed, the root of the title and the martynia or cat's claw, as do 
also the Paiutis and Havasupais. The shredded leaves of the yucca 
and amole are often used as the filling material for the inner coils. 

"The tools of the basket-maker are of the simplest character — those 
necessary to the harvesting of the material and those used in manu- 
facture. As baskets are made of wood in one place, of bark in another, 
and of grass, bast, skins, roots, and so forth, according to locality, the 
tools for harvesting and preparing the material must vary irom tribe to 
tribe. But the one tool that is never absent is the bone awl or stiletto, 
which is useful with every type of manufacture, and is ever present in 
the graves of primitive women." — O. T. Mason. 



86 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




Yi'i 



FIGS. S3 AND S4. BONE AWLS USED IN BASKET MAKING. 



MATERIALS USED IN INDIAN BASKETRY. 




88 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

CHAPTER VII. 
i;T COLORS IN INDIAN BASKETRY. 

Some of the oldest known specimens of Indian basketry are the 
finest weave but without decoration. Hence, as Mrs. Carr writes, "We 
conclude that, having attained perfection in these respects, the native 
genius reached out toward surface embellishment for its more adequate 
expression. What they found to be the only mode of ornamentation 
which would not interfere with the smoothness and flatness of the sur- 
faces, and hence with the durability of their work, was color. It is 
precisely at this point that the fine art of basketry has its beginning. 

"As the woof or willow coils always covered the more perishable 
warps of grass stems, the artist was necessarily limited to changes in 
the woof, and to, purely geometric patterns. Every kindergartner knows 
how infinitely varied these may be, and how every new combination 
stimulates invention. How far back in the ages the discovery was 
made that simply by breaking off the plain fillet and introducing a 
colored piece in its place pictures might be made in basketry we never 
shall know, but this is certain — the result has proved the capacity of our 
patient Indian drudge for development along the lines which have made 
the Japanese so wonderful a people. 

"The Indian women were very skillful in the preparation of dyes and 
mordants, and of the colors used, black, red, and various shades of 
brown, were permanent. The basket hats in common use were of plain 
colors, and left to steep in the dyes for months, a quantity of pigeon's 
dung being used as a fixture." 

"Changes of color on the surface are produced by varieties of the 
fundamental monotonies. The geometric decorations on basketry are 
variations simply in number and color, the size of the mesh remaining 
uniform. This part of art evolution was almost exhausted by savage 
women. Hence one sees on basketry and on soft textiles alike patterns 
which the modern weaver and the jeweler are never tired of copying, 
which have become classic, and entered the great world-encompassing 
stream of art forms, pleasing to the whole species." — Mason. 

"Colors in textiles are produced first by the happy mixture of natural 
materials of different tints. Often the two sides of the leaf will give 
distinct colors, as in the case of the yuccas (out of which the Hopi 
women of Arizona make the pretty and substantial meal trays), or the 
palm leaves abounding in the tropics. The Californian women get a 
black effect with martynia pods, a deep brown with the stem of the 
maidenhair fern, a bright red in the use of the roots of a yucca. These 
added to the wood color of different plants produce a pleasing variety. 
The women of our Pacific coast have found out that burying spruce 
root and other woody fibres in certain springs or muds produces a 
chocolate color, and natural dyeing may be found elsewhere. But our 
primitive folk also know how to make dyes from mineral and vegetable 
substances and how to fix colors by means of mordants. Until the dis- 
covery of the coal-tar dyes — a plague upon them ! — the most commonly 
used colors were those borrowed from the hands of savage women." 
— Mason. 



COLORS IN INDIAN BASKETRY. 89 

Of the colors used by the Potawatomies in their basketry Simon 
Pokagon says : "They are proficient in the production of natural 
colors that please the eye. Those best skilled in the art educate them- 
selves in this branch of their work by watching the rainbow in the 
storm and the golden clouds of sunset. In fact no true admirer of the 
beautiful can look through a well-arranged bazaar of these goods 
without feeling in his heart that they must have been dipped in the 
rainbow and washed in the sunshine." 

The squaw grass — Xerophyllum tenax — of the Klickitats' basketry 
in its natural color is white. By soaking in water for a certain length of 
time it becomes yellow, and one of the rich browns is created by soak- 
ing in hot water. An extract of willow bark also gives a dark brown, 
and charcoal, black. Urine as a mordaunt was almost universal with 
all Indian peoples, though, as elsewhere stated, pigeon's dung was 
used by the Southern California Indians for the same purpose. Among 
the Hopi, Zunis, Acomas and other pueblo Indians of Arizona and 
New Mexico at the present time the urine is often preserved for this 
purpose, and many times I have seen it thus used. 

The Shastas dye their white grass brown with an extract of alder- 
bark", and they use their maidenhair fern stem, which is unfading, and 
of perfect beauty for the blacks of their basketry. 

In similar fashion the Havasupais, or Kohoninos, do not dye their 
willows black, but use, instead of willows, the peeled pod of the mar- 
tynia, which is jet black and, as far as I have seen, fadeless. 

The Hopi use plants, blossoms and roots from which they largely 
distill dyes even to the present day, though most of their modern baskets 
are degraded by aniline dyes. 

Dr. Hudson thus writes of the dyeing processes of the Pomas: 
"The gem (either the kah hoom or mil lay) is evenly painted with char- 
coal paste, placed in the bottom of a pit, much resembling a grave in 
proportions. Willow ashes are sprinkled over it to a depth of two 
inches, and the pit finally filled with loose, damp earth. It takes nearly 
eighty hours for the charcoal, potash, and tannin to complete their 
chemical action in producing a perfect dye. If taken out too soon the 
color will be a dark brown, or if allowed to remain several hours too 
long, the gem will be eaten into and rendered worthless. Successfully, 
done, a glossy black permeates the fibre which is unimpaired by the 
burial." 

With some of the Southern California tribes a wild-bird guano, found 
in quantities where native roots existed, was and is used. A small 
pool by the side of a brook is filled with the prepared splints and 
then covered over with this guano in a moistened condition. A month 
of soaking produces a light chestnut, and a longer period the darker 
chestnuts. Wild berries often give- a good red. 

Among the Cahuillas the only colors used are black, brown, yellow 
and white. The white, yellow and brown are colors natural to the 
growth and are neither bleached nor dyed. The black is made by taking 
a pot full of mud from the sulphur springs that abound on the reserva- 
tion and boiling it, stirring the mud and water together. As the mud 
settles the liquid is poured off, and, while hot, is used to color the 
splints. Two or three "soakings" are necessary to give a fast and 
perfect color. The brown is the natural color of the title root. The 
outer coating is peeled off into splints never longer than ten inches, 
but generally nearer six or seven. It is a common sight to find "skeins" 



90 • INDIAN BASKETRY. 

of this basket-making material in the four different colors, and now and 
again one may see the patient woman peeling off the cuticle of the 
tule root, stripping the skunk weed, boiling the black mud or soaking 
the skunk weed strips in the black dye. 

Native Indian dyes are permanent, and the softening touch of time 
gives to them a richness, an exquisite harmony in gentle, subtle tone 
that is delightful to the artistic soul. Some one has well written : 

"It is true that the native pigments may be duller and that they do 
not run through such a lengthy, diverse, and brilliant chromatic gamut 
as the white man's dyes. But the Indian dyes are permanent, and they 
are so softened by the mellowing touch of time as to gain with age an 
exquisite combination of color values altogether inimitable. Who that 
desires Indian basketry cares for mongrel work? What of a piece of 
Indian work masquerading in gaudy garments that are not really its 
own ? In the process of crossing, the individuality and the distinctive- 
ness are almost invariably lost and the decorative scheme has degener- 
ated to a degree such as fits it only for the commercial collector of 
hodge-podge. Most of the Indian basket work that reaches the East 
is a degenerate product born of the modern commercial spirit, and can 
never hope to match the purer form of aboriginal days, or even some 
types yet to be found in the far west — particularly where civilization 
has touched the red man with a lightsome touch indeed." 

The introduction of extraneous substances, such as beads and 
feathers, belongs to a comparatively late period in the history of the 
art. In the feather work of the interior tribes we find proof of the 
delicacy of the native taste ; no inharmonious colors are used ; and while 
the spiendoi of the color seems to have answered every demand, this 
was often enhanced by contrast. The earlier explorers and discoverers 
of the Pacific Coast reported the beauty and perfection of this work of 
the Indian woman. Mr. Stephen Powers describes a fancy work basket 
"covered entirely with the down of woodpeckers' scalps, among which 
were a great number of hanging loops of strung beads ; and around the 
rim an upright row of little black quails' plumes gaily nodding." There 
were eighty plumes, which required the sacrifice of as many quails ; 
and at least a hundred and fifty woodpeckers had been robbed to furnish 
that royal scarlet nap for the outside. 

The bits of shell found on the Poma baskets are of wampum, or 
ka yah. These are made from the clam shells, Saxidormis gracilis and 
Cardium corbis. The shell is divided into roughly rounded disks, ap- 
proximately the size desired, and then, with rude hand drill, or ka win, 
bored on one side and then on the other. A string of these is made on 
a willow shoot and rolled over and over on a sandstone slab, on which 
marble dust and water are placed. This, to the Poma, has its distinct 
monetary value, hence to find it on a basket is to see work that a 
majella has decorated with her wealth. 

From the earliest ages color has had definite significance. Mallery 
says : "The Babylonians represented the Sun and its sphere of motion 
by gold, the Moon by silver, Saturn by black, Jupiter by orange, Mars 
by red, Venus by pale yellow, and Mercury by deep blue. Red was 
anciently and generally connected with divinity and power both priestly 
and royal. The tabernacle of the Israelites was covered with skins dyed 
red, and the gods and images of Egypt and Chaldea were of that color, 
which to this day is the one distinguishing the Roman Pontiff and the 
cardinals. 



COLORS IN INDIAN BASKETRY. 9 1 

"In ancient art each color had a mystic sense or symbolism, and its 
proper use was an essential consideration. With regard to early Chris* 
tian art Mrs. Clement furnishes the following account : 

"White is worn by the Saviour after his resurrection; by the Virgin, 
in representations of the Assumption ; by women as the emblem of 
chastity; by rich men to indicate humility; and by the judge as the 
symbol of integrity. It is represented sometimes by silver or the dia- 
mond, and its sentiment is purity, virginity, innocence, faith, joy, and. 
light. 

"Red, the color of the ruby, speaks of royalty, fire, divine love, the 
holy spirit, creative power, and heat. In an opposite sense it symbol- 
ized blood, war, and hatred. Red and black combined were the colors 
of Satan, purgatory, and evil spirits. Red and white roses are emblems 
of love and innocence or love and wisdom, as in the garland of St. 
Cecilia. 

"Blue, that of the sapphire, signified heaven, heavenly love and truth, 
constancy and fidelity. Christ and the Virgin Mary wear the blue 
mantle; St. John a blue tunic. 

"Green, the emerald, the color of spring, expressed hope and vic- 
tory. 

"Yellow or gold was the emblem of the sun, the goodness of God,, 
marriage and fruitfulness. St. Joseph and St. Peter wear yellow. Yel- 
low has also a bad signification when it has a dirty, dingy hue, such as- 
the usual dress of Judas, and then signifies jealousy, inconstancy and 
deceit. 

"Violet or amethyst signified passion and suffering or love and 
truth. Penitents, as the Magdalene, wear it. The Madonna wears it. 
after the crucifixion, and Christ after the resurrection. 

"Gray is the color of penance, mourning, humility or accused inno- 
cence. 

"Black with white signified humility, mourning, and purity of life. 
Alone, it spoke of darkness, wickedness, and death, and belonged to- 
Satan. In pictures of the Temptation Jesus sometimes wears black." 

A note in the American Journal of Psychology, Vol. i, November 
1887, p. 190, gives another list substantially as follows : "Yellow, the" 
color of gold and fire, symbolizes reason. Green, the color of vegetable 
life, symbolizes utility and labor. Red, the color of blood, symbolizes 
war and love. Blue, the color of the sky, symbolizes spiritual life, duty, 
religion." 

The ceremonial scheme of the Navaho colors symbolic of the car- 
dinal points is as follows : "The eagle plumes were laid to the east. 
and near by them white corn and white shell ; the blue feathers were 
laid to the south, with blue corn and turquoise; the hawk feathers were 
laid to the west, with yellow corn and abalone shell ; and to the north 
were laid the whippoorwill feathers, with black beads and corn of all" 
the several colors." 

Mooney says that the symbolic color system of the Cherokees is : 

East — red — success; triumph. North — blue — defeat; trouble. 
West— black — death. South — white — peace ; happiness." 

Black is pretty generally the color of death and mourning among the 
Amerinds, as it is with many civilized races to-day. Red is a sacred' 
color with almost all Indians. It generally symbolizes the blood, the 



92 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 





COLORS IN INDIAN BASKETRY. 93 

life, the strength of man, and, therefore, success. This explains its 
common use on body, face, lance, war-pony, shield, etc., in the 
dance, and when going on the war-path. 

Among the Mayas the four cardinal points are supposed to have 
been represented by the colors blue, yellow, black and red. Yellow also 
suggested to them the ripening of fruit, especially their chief product, 
maize, and was, therefore, a propitious, a good, a sacred color. 

Among the Cheyennes the rivers that are supposed to exist in the 
spirit world are symbolized by colors, as blue and green, etc. 

During the Ghost Dance those who were about to perform were 
always painted in elaborate designs in red, yellow, green and blue. The 
sacred colors were supposed to sharpen the spiritual vision. 

Formerly, among the Menomini Indians colors were made from 
earth pigments and represented certain degrees of initiation into the 
Grand Medicine Society. Those who had received but one degree 
"were allowed and expected to adorn their faces by making a white 
stripe horizontally across the forehead, and band of white clay of a 
ringer's width, and extending outward as far as the outer angle of 
each eye. In addition, a spot of green about an inch in diameter was 
placed upon the middle of the breast." The decorations of the second 
degree consisted of a fanciful application to the face of red ochre, or 
vermillion, and one spot of green beneath each eye. The third degree 
initiate placed a stripe of green so as to extend horizontally outward 
from the corners of the mouth. The fourth degree was distinguished 
by its associates painting the chin with green paint. 

During the Ghost Dance excitement Major MacMurray visited 
Smohalla, the leader of a tribe that bears his name. They are of 
Shahaptian stock and closely akin to the Yakima and Nez Perces. 
Smohalla's flag illustrates the Indian's ideas in regard to color, and also 
the symbolism of signs. The flag was rectangular, suggesting a target. 
In the center of the flag was a round red patch. The field was yellow, 
representing grass, which is there of a yellow hue in summer. A green 
border indicated the boundary of the world, the hills being moist and 
green near their tops. At the top of the flag was a small extension of 
blue color, with a white star in the center. Smohalla explained : "This 
is my flag, and it represents the world. God told me to look after my 
people — all are my people. There are four ways in the world — north 
and south and east and west. I have been all those ways. This is the 
center. I live here. The red spot is my heart — everybody can see it. 
The yellow grass grows everywhere around this place. The green 
mountains are far away all around the world. There is only water 
beyond, salt water. The blue (referring to the blue cloth strip) is the 
sky, and the star is the north star. That star never changes ; it is 
always in the same place. I keep my heart on that star. I never 
change." The venerated garments used in this dance were of white, 
red and blue, old and sacred colors. 

Among the Yakimas of Washington yellow, white and blue repre- 
sent the colors of the celestial world ; hence these are favorite colors 
with. them. Yellow is also symbolic of the celestial glory; white of the 
terrestrial light which comes from "Those Above," while blue is the 
color of the sky, the abode of the gods. 

Among the Zunis color has its distinct significance. "Thus the 
north is designated as yellow, because the light at morning and even- 
ing in winter time is yellow, as also is the auroral light. The west is 



94 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

known as the blue world, not only because of the blue or gray twilight 
at evening, but also because westward from Zuniland lies the blue 
Pacific. The south is designated as red, it being the region of summer 
and of fire, which is red ; and for an obvious reason the east is desig- 
nated white (like dawn light) ; while the upper region is many-colored, 
like the sunlight on the clouds, and the lower region black, like the 
caves and deep springs of the world. Finally, the midmost, so often 
mentioned in the following outline, is colored of all these colors, be- 
cause, being representative of this (which is the central world and of 
which in turn Zuni is the very middle or navel), it contains all the 
other quarters or regions, or is at least divisible into them. In Zuni, 
the above — the region of the sky — is symbolized by any and all colors, 
the below is black. Among the Hopi (Moki) the reverse is the case. 
With the Hopi the sacred colors of the cardinal points are yellow, green, 
ted and white. On the Antelope altar at Shipauluvi the border, like 
that of the Walpi altar, was composed of four bands of sand, colored 
yellow, green, red, and white, respectively, separated by black lines, as 
in the Antelope sand picture at Walpi. This border inclosed a rect- 
angular field on which were depicted, in different colored sands, the 
semicircular rainclouds ; four yellow, adjacent to the border; three 
whole and two half semicircles of green ; four red, and three whole and 
two half semicircles in white. All of these were outlined with black 




PIG. SS. PSHU-KAN, OR FISH-NET OF POMAS 

lines. On the remaining part of the inclosed rectangle, which was cov- 
ered with white sand, there were four zigzag figures with triangular 
heads, one yellow, one green, one red, and one white, beginning at the 
left of the sand picture as one approached it from the ladder. Each of 
these figures had a single black mark on the neck representing a neck- 
lace, and a curved horn on the left side of the head, and was outlined 
in black. 

In order that different colored corn may grow in their fields the 
priests often take pinches of these different colored sands from their 
altars and sprinkle them in their corn fields. 

The Navahoes, when laying down their sacred corn, follow a certain 
prescribed order, according to color. The white, being the color of the 
east, has precedence of all and is laid down first. The blue, the color 
of the south, comes next, for when we move sunwise (the sacred cere- 
monial circuit of the Navahoes) south follows immediately after east. 
Yellow, the color of the west, on the same principle, comes third, and 
black (in this case mixed) comes fourth. Mixed is properly the color- 
ing of the upper region, and usually follows after black, but it some- 
times takes the place of black. These apparently superfluous particu- 
lars of laying down the corn have a ceremonial or religious significance. 



COLORS IN INDIAN BASKETRY. 



95 



In placing sacred objects ceremonially in a straight row, the operator 
proceeds southward from his starting-point, for this approximates the 
sunwise circuit, and he makes the tip ends point east. 

I have not attempted an exhaustive presentation of this interesting 
subject, but I have sufficiently shown that it is a complex and fascinat- 
ing one when reasonably understood. One of the difficulties in the way 
of writing upon such matters is to clear away the rubbish. It is an 
ungracious task for which enmity and abuse are often the chief re- 
turns. Not only must the author satisfy himself of the weight that 
should be given to that which he reads, and sift out all that seems 
unreliable, but he must now and again take it upon himself to warn his 




FIG. 89. POMA BAM-TUSH WEAVE 



readers against the grossly erroneous statements made by those who 
pose as experts and authorities. For instance, one author asserts that 
the "real" Indian hues are "red, white and blue," and that the other 
colors are accursed. That this statement is an utterly foolish and false 
one I think I have satisfactorily shown by my quotations from acknow- 
ledged authorities, and those who desire, to pursue the subject further 
will find it well discussed in the Tenth Annual Report of the U. S. 
Bureau of Ethnology. 



96 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
WEAVES OR STITCHES OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 

To the casual observer there are but slight differences to be noted 
in the stitches or methods of weaving followed by different tribes in 
their basketry. The subject is presented in various phases in preceding 
or succeeding chapters, but I deem it of sufficient interest and im- 
portance to devote a special chapter to its immediate consideration. 

How a hasty and ignorant generalizer may draw false conclusions 
and thus mislead others, when those conclusions are presented in a 
magazine that is edited by a loudly boastful "expert," is evidenced by 
the following extract: "With infinite care and patience the Indian 
woman weaves the flexible twigs of trees, or the stems of reeds and the 
long grass stalks into a shape so perfect that you wonder at the beauty 
of it ; counting her stitches so carefully that seldom does the decorative 
pattern fail to join properly. There are, practically, but two kinds of 
weaving, the horizontal and the upright." 

Now compare the latter part of this "expert" statement with 
the modest declaration of an "amateur," Dr. J. W. Hudson, who has 
made, according to Dr. Otis T. Mason, "the best scientific collection 
of basketry known to the writer from any people on the earth." Dr. 
Hudson states that the Poma of to-day uses nine distinct weaves, and 
that in old baskets are found five others that are now extinct. Of these 
latter five he exclaims : "Happy the collector that possesses one of 
such." 

The following descriptions of Poma weaves are written by Dr. Hud- 
son or Dr. Mason : 

Pshu-kan. "In this type a number of upright work-rods are held 
together by pairs of hazel or willow shoots passing around horizontally, 
as in a winding stairway, and making a half twist in each space as in 
a wattle hedge or fence, enclosing also a horizontal stern as in the fine 
"ti" style. In the fish weirs and coarser articles the rough material is 
used, but in household utensils the willow may be decorticated and even 
polished. The original material for articles of this kind was hazel, 
(shu-ba)." — Mason. 

"Pshu-kan means fish net, and the weave known by this name was 
undoubtedly the Pomas' first crude effort toward basketry. The idea 
was suggested probably to the savage mind in noting the salmon's 
difficulty in passing through submerged interlacing limbs of some fallen 
tree. Artificial dams followed, then wiers, then vehicles to facilitate 
the handling and carrying home of their slippery game, then domestic 
utensils and houses. .To strength, further improvement has added light- 
ness and symmetry, till we find in the present Pshu-kan much to admire. 
In all but the strongest packing baskets, willow shoots have since super- 
ceded alder limbs, and each rib is bound with kah hoom." — Hudson. 

2. Pshu-tsin. "This is an obsolete method of binding house raft- 
ers, stationary granaries, game fences, etc., with split grape-vine 
weft by starting at the periphery at intervals and spirally looping each 
second rib, on and up to the common centre." — Hudson. 

3. Bam-tush. "A style of twined weaving called, in the Poma Ian- 



WEAVES OR STITCHES OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 9/ 

guage, bam-tush, from bam-tu, a grape-vine, the original material ; but 
this has been discarded for stronger and more polished substances. 
In the splints used for this style of basketry, the brown bark and the pale 
yellow interior of the stem afford the basket maker an opportunity for 
ornamentation. By the term bam-tush is evidently meant the plain 
twined weaving in which only one warp stem is included in each half- 
turn of the weft." — Mason. 

This style of weave is illustrated in Figs. 89 and 90. 

Dr. Hudson thus describes the bam-tush : "Three boms are laid side 
by side across the centers of a similar bunch at right angles, and the six 
bound together at their intersection with kah hoom. This clone, the two 
ends of thread select a rib and bind it from above and below, twisting on 
themselves before grasping the next radiating bom. The process con- 




FIG. 90. 



POMA "BAM-TUSH" GRANARY 
AND "SHI-PU" TOY. 



FIG. 



91. NORTH COAST BASKET 
OF VICIOUS FORM. 



tinues around in a gradually increasing spiral until spaces require extra 
ribs. These, sharpened at the end, fit snugly into openings between 
stitches made with a bone awl. According to the shape desired, boms 
are inserted or taken out, all ends being carefully covered. 

Patterns make their first appearance in this weave, and to accom- 
plish this a change of thread is required, mil-lay being substituted, its 
smooth side presenting a burnt sienna hue in contrast to the pale lemon 
of the kah-hocm. We often find rings of shi-tsin, or "ti" stitch, worked 
in at intervals, increasing in stability and artistic effect, for during and 
after this period neither of these two qualities are allowed preponder- 
ance. In smaller pieces of work, like the pinole mush basket or those 
designed for cooking utensils, the rim is left raw, but the big cone 
shapes require a hoop of alder lashed over with fir fibre. 

A bam-tush basket is readily recognised by the vertical ribs, each 
of which is plainly indicated from bottom to top. Closer inspection 



98 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

finds weight, durability, and a mesh sufficient to retain any seed larger 
than mustard. , 

Fig 91 is here introduced as a striking contrast to the simple and 
natural forms of the Pomas. This is a Northern Pacific coast basket, 
and construction and use are sacrificed to a false idea of beauty. 

Shu-set. "Among the Poma the shu-set is the most highly decor- 
ated of this type of weaving. Upon the pieces marked as belonging to 
this type there are two styles of manipulation. In all cases, however, 
the twine stitch or mesh passes over two warp strands instead of one, 
so that the ribbed appearance on the outside has a diagonal effect. This 




PIG. 92. POMA "SHU-SET" AND "TI" WEAVES. 



method is always employed in the Ute basketry and as far south as the 
Pueblo country." See Fig. 92. 

Dr. Hudson thus writes of shu-set: "Beauty seems to have been the 
incentive' in its conception, though baskets of this kind possess no un- 
usual shapes or uses. Their pretentions to the eye lie in a smoothness, 
a perfection in outline and color, that somehow remind you of a deli- 
cately rounded, warm cheek. Not a flaw, discoloration or projection 
can be found on its surface, for this weave is capable of great possi- 
bilities in effective displays. In all other textiles the pattern is woven 
through, that is, the mil-lay or tsu wish threads invariably keep their 
colored side away from the rib they cover. The shu set is the only 
exception of this rule, its interior exhibiting only slight indications 
of the external color. The reason for this becomes obvious, on seeing 



WEAVES OR STITCHES OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 



99 



the weaver carry the stitch through without twisting. Shu-sets were 
not intended for hard usage— in some degree utility has been sacrificed 
to grace. It is the lightest and most fragile textile made by the Pomas. 
Preparation consumes much time, for only the toughest, smallest, 
and most flexible boms are selected, — also unusually thin, even thread. 
Begun in the same manner as bam tush the change occurs several 
inches from the center. Instead of wrapping a single bom from each 
side, the threads cross each other, untwisted in every other space, thus 
binding two boms in one loop. (Fig. 93 S.) A shu set foundation 
called sil lick (spider), from its appearance, illustrates the point. 

As may be supposed, this weave requires more ribs than the bam 
tushs, in fact, about twice as many. The mesh is comparatively 
open, but is serviceable in carrying seeds of clover, tar weed, or wild 
millet. Ovoid shapes answer as receptacles for sugar, coffee, trinkets, 
clothing, etc. 

As indicated by its shape, the conical is the basket of transpor- 




PIG. 93. POMA BASKET MATERIAL AND FOUNDATION. 

tation, being held on the back in a net whose head band passes over 
the. carrier's brows. They supply the place in an Indian's needs that a 
wheelbarrow does in ours, the capacities of each being equal, and if any 
discrepancy exists, it is not in favor of the wheelbarrow." — Hudson. 

Lit. An accessory weave to the shu-set is the Lit, which is "em- 
ployed to preserve symmetry of outline and harmony of pattern when 
the'pattern requires change of color. It is a distinct method of weave, 
however, and specimens can be woven entirely by it, though it is rather 
too delicate and unstable for practical purposes." — Hudson. 

Ti. "This is the Poma name for a style of twined weaving in which 
four elements are employed, namely (a) a set of perpendicular warp- 
stems, usually of willow (Salix hindsiana) ; (b) a stem of the same mate- 
rial carried around, in the form of a coil, horizontally on the outside 
of the upright warp-stems ; (c) a regular course of twined weaving, with 
two splints", which at each half turn encloses the upright and horizontal 
warp-stem. This makes a very solid double basket for domestic 

L.ofC. 



IOO 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 





WEAVES OR STITCHES OF INDIAN BASKETRY". IOI 

purposes. (See Fig. 92 the large basket to the right). On the outside 
the appearance is that of the shu-set basketry, but the ridges are 
diagonal; on the inside the appearance is that of the bam-tush or plain 
twined weaving." — Mason. 

The interior of a timpekah is identical in appearance to the ribbed 
bam tush, but, viewed externally, the intricacies of this most difficult 
and tedious of useful weaves is made manifest. 

The fact is, that a ti is a double basket, consisting of an inner bam 
tush supplemented with an extra rib externally, which, commencing 
below at the common center, accompanies and participates in each 
stitch in ever-increasing spirals to the rim. In making, a ti consumes 
nearly twice the time and material of any basket yet mentioned, and is 
esteemed as highly as any in the catalogue. Its qualities are, exceeding 
durability, with lightness ; its uses, cooking mush and pmole, boiling 




FIG. 9G. POMA "SHI-BU." 

water, storing fluids, parching wheat or other grains, and as mortars 
for pounding out flour. The largest ti in Fig. 92 was over twelve 
months in constructing, while the larger bam-tush Fig. 90 took less 
time and care. The spiral rib in a ti necessitates its wrapping being 
put on a slant, thus giving the pattern an indistinctness to be seen 
in no other weave. 

The Poma meaning of the word "ti" is ponderous, stable, unyield- 
ing, and it well describes the strong double-weave of the Pomas where 
durability is required. 

Dah-lah is the Poma word for plate ; hence ti dah-lah is a platter 
of the ti make. It is exhilarating to "watch an old crone toast wheat. 
With bended shoulders and pursed-out lips, she frantically waves a 
dah-lah at arm's length ; the grains and glowing coals dance in unison 
to her puffs, while, "black in the face," she is "never out of breath till 
the task is done." — Hudson. 

"In addition to these species of twined weaving the following are 



102 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



employed by the Pomas in bottoms or bands of ornamentation and 
occasionally in the strands of the basket : 

(a) "Three-ply twine, by which is meant the employment of three 
members or filaments instead of two in the twining. In the process 
Of twisting, when the third of a turn is made, one of the filaments is 
caught over a warp-stem, at the next third another filament, and at the 
end of the whole turn the third is caught over, and so on, the process 
being repeated from round to round. A moment's thought will show 
that upon the outside two of the strands will always be shown, while on 
the inside, therefore, will be that of plain twined weaving ; but on the 
outside it will be diagonal, in which each of the stitches passes over two 
warp-stems and, under the circumstances, are imbricated or overlap- 
ping. 




FIG. 97. POMA "TSI" AND "BAM-TSU-WU." 

(b) Three-ply braid (shi-tsin), used on bottoms and resembling the 
last-named, save that the filaments are plaited instead of twisted, but 
alternately they pass one at a time over warp-stems on the inside, and on 
the outside this is distinguishable from a." — Mason. 

Dr. Hudson writes of shi-tsin : "Gathering of acorns necessitated 
a closer mesh ; small seed, still finer, and lastly, the water-tight basket 
was evolved. In this order the shi-tsin weave followed the pshu kan. 
But two specimens of this second stage in textile improvement have 
been discovered during the past four years, both of them so battered 
out of shape and black with age as to obliterate all vestiges of pattern, 
if any ever existed. However, their manner of construction yet re- 
mains to supply an important link in the evolution of the basket. 
Willow limbs the size of a pencil form ribs or bones running from rim 



WEAVES OR STITCHES OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 



103 



down across the bottom and back to the rim again on the opposite side, 
thus multiplying the bottom's strength while giving it a rough, clumsy 
appearance. Deer tendon is probably the binding thread used, three 
ribs being taken in at one wrap. 

Such vessels must have answered a variety of uses, from the gather- 
: ng of nuts and storing the same, or other mah-ha for food, to packing 
of fuel. This weave has long since been abandoned, except in cases 
where ;ts use adds extra strength and variety to baskets of different 
constructions." Later he writes of this weave : "This weave or weft is 
identical with our three ply braid or plait. It is too cumbersome to 
be employed alone, but is often found in rings in specimens of other 
weaves ti'(bamtush) as a reinforcement or stifrener of particular parts 
of the basket, especially on the bottoms or convexities." 




FIGS. 98-102. 
ORNAMENTED "SHI-BU' 
OF THE POMAS. 



He also describes tsa-wam : "This is to braid with a single filament. 
Ii is found only in the baby transport cradle, which is always made by 
men. It is a series of half stitches crossing back and forth, and is 
efficient for binding the warp firmly." 

The coiled style of weave is called Shi-bu by the Pomas and of this 
there are three distinct types, viz., the Tsai or bam-tca (one rib), the 
bam-tsu-wu (three ribs) and the shi-lo. 

Of these Dr. Hudson thus writes : "I have thus described the 
various modes of binding together a wooden fabric whose initial ribs, 
few in number, multiply in proportion to the magnitude of its outline ; 
whose ribs also lie in vertical planes, while their two wrappings incline 
to a horizontal. Native ingenuity seems to have exhausted itself in this 
line, and experimenting with coil and spirals was begun. No doubt the 
outer half of the ti suggested the effort toward departure from ortho- 
dox methods. How complete has been the success of those ancient 
experiments a close study of Fig. 96, will reveal. 



104 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



Shi bu baskets are made in three ways, each having a mode of pro- 
cedure peculiar to itself. A specimen of the earliest demonstration of 
fhi-bu practicability can be seen in No. 175, Fig. 96, an unsightly 
affair, void of all merit but stability and interest to antiquarians. Its 
composition is a single uninterrupted thread, binding a series of super- 
imposed spirals by piercing the upper edge of the next spiral beneath, 
this spiral consisting of six fir fibres parallel and in juxtaposition. 
Pattern is an impossibility, because nearly half the coil is uncovered 
and the thread itself so coarse that color would provoke ridicule. 

Tsai was an improvement. A single bom, uniform in size through- 
out is so bent on itself as to simulate the coil of a rattlesnake. After the 
first circle is completed, both boms are enclosed m one wrap, the third 
bom is bound to the second in the same manner, the stitches passing 
through and closing interstices between the first and second. Fig. 93 
B illustrates stages, and Nos. 55, Fig. 96, 53 and 49, Fig. 97, the 
complete tsai. 




t'UJc. 103 YOKUT, POMA AND EEL RIVER BASKETb. 



Bam tsu wu (triplet boms) is our last; most tedious in construction, 
most capable of ornametation, and most prolific in aesthetic effects. 

A, A, of Fig. 93, explain in detail the ground plan of the two 
ordinary shapes. Three boms here form the coil, which is held together 
and to the next lower coil by a thread envelope catching the loops on 
top of the adjacent lower coil. Nos. 278, 247, Fig. 96, are fine speci- 
mens of unornamented bam tsu wu, while Fig. 95 presents a few 
choice feathered ones. However, among the latter, No. 65, Fig. 95 is a 
ti. quite rare, with its quail plumes. The use of feathers is of compara- 
tively recent date, though prevalent at the pioneer's advent. Its era 
may be safely located after the conception of bam tsu wu, which was 
doubtless created for this purpose. 

As a work of art the shi bu basket deserves all the reputation it has 
received and more ; for untold generations these people have concen- 
trated their ingenuity and energy in perfecting a peculiar fibrous textile, 



WEAVES OR STITCHES OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 



10 = 



and the result has been acknowledged by critics to be the peer among 
curios from all the barbaric nations of the earth. It is marvelous how 
one family, relegated from birth to one secluded spot, surrounded by 
rude, unsympathetic nomads, deprived of all resources bu: those nature 
created with them, should develop such an art and cherish it. It was 
not the demand of a necessity, but the pursuit of an ideal." — Hudson. 

In 1892 my well informed friend, Mrs. Jeanne C. Carr, wrote : "The 
finest as well as the largest California baskets are of the coiled variety. 
The simplicity of their construction is well shown in the illustration 




FIG. 104. PAUMA GRANARY, TRINKET BASKETS, WATER BOTTEES AND HAT. 

(Fig. 104), which presents the bottom of a very old Indian basket from 
the Pauma reservation in San Diego County, California. The full size 
of this basket can be better understood by a glance at Fig. 231. Gregoria 
Majal, who made it, wove such a granary for each of her three 
daughters, who are venerable women ; yet Gregoria's strength and 
skill are even now fully competent for work of this quality. This store- 
house is nine feet and nine inches in circumference, three feet deep, 
and has only four coils or stitches to the inch of weaving. Fifteen 
stitches is considered a fine weave, the finest ever seen by the writer 
had twenty-eight to the inch, and was truly a perfect work of art." 

Yet Dr. Hudson says of the Poma weaves : "An ordinary shi bu 
contains eighteen stitches to the inch, as in Nos. 255 and 71, Fig. 97, but 
those on either side boast of forty-two to fifty-one within this measure- 



K)6 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 





J 
O 

a 

a 

<! 



WEAVES OR STITCHES OF INDIAN BASKETRY. I0 7 

ment. Their equals will probably never be seen, for their makers are 
now on the eve of final departure." 

Despite this statement, however, there is a California basket in the 
private collection of Mr. W. D. Campbell, of Los Angeles, which has 
fifty-three stitches to the inch, a most wonderful and exquisite piece of 
work. 

In Fig. 57 I have marked a basket with the letter M. This is a 
typical Mescalero Apache coiled basket. In weave coarse and crude, 
in color neither striking nor harmonious, it represents a low stage of the 
art. Not until the commercial aspect of basketry presented itself to 
these pepole, did they attempt to do much at it, and the result is their 
efforts are neither skillful nor pleasing. 

In the San Carlos and White Mountain Apaches, however, one has 
an entirely different class of weavers to deal with. Here are experts, 
proud of the fineness of their work, poetic in the designs they conceive 
and accomplished in weaving that which they imagine. Their basketry 
is of the coiled order and made generally of willow or twigs thai are 
much similar. One or more willows serve for the inside of the coil, and 
willow splints are wrapped around and caught into the coil below. 
Black and white are the main colors, the body of the basket, of course, 
always being white and the design worked out with black, which is 
generally the pod of the martynia. The more skillful weavers model 
their ware in a variety of shapes, so that one can have flat-bottomed 
bowls, conical bowls, saucers, jars of varied forms, botties with wide 
necks, oval trinket baskets and the like. Fig. 105 was made by a White 
Mountain Apache and is possibly the largest in existence. It is over 40 
inches in diameter and 42 inches high, and contains fully a quarter of a 
million stitches. It took Jattalouisa, its maker, two years to make, and 
its perfect shape attests her skill and patience. There is nothing distinc- 
tive about the design and the chief value of such a basket is in its size 
and perfect shape, it being a remarkable example of what can be accom- 
plished in this regard. Such baskets were originally used as granaries 
and may still be found doing similar service. It is in the Plimpton col- 
lection, in San Diego, California. 

Fig. 106 is a fine specimen of an Apache water bottle. This is much 
more beautifully and closely woven than the similar work of the Paiutis, 
care being taken to make the basket water tight without covering with 
gum. The design of this basket is fully explained in the chapter on 
Symbolism. 

The Paiutis make, three separate and distinct styles of baskets, as 
well as their "pa-bi-chi," or baby cradle. Their mush bowls are ver)> 
similar to the work of the Apaches and Cahuillas, yet in weave are 
slightly different. Aromatic sumac (Rhus aromatica, Var. trilobata), 
split to the required width, and colored or white as desired, is used as 
the wrapping splint. The inner coil is composed of yucca, bast or fiber, 
two or three or more strips according to the fineness or coarseness de- 
sired. The larger the quantity of material inside the thicker and heavier 
the coil is. The sewing passes over the elements of the coil and through 
the upper element of the coil below, looping always under the sub- 
jacent stitches. The ornamentation is produced by working into the 
fabric various designs with strips of martynia or splints dyed to a dark 
brown or a reddish brown. 



io8 



INDIAN BASKETRY 




WEAVES OR STITCHES OF INDIAN BASKUTRY. 



109 



The most noted work in mush bowls of the Paiutis, however, is not 
known bv their name These bowls are eagerly sought after and are 
Known as "Navaho Wedding Baskets" and "Apache Medicine Bask- 
ets." This may be accepted as the highest type of Pauiti weaving 
found in their original habitat, for by contact with the Yokuts. the 
Pauitis of California have much improved in artist skill. Fig 20 and 




PIG. 10S. KUCH-YE-AMP-SI. THE HOPI WEAVER. 

the two baskets of the middle row of Fig. 27 represents these bowls. 
They are woven as above described, but finished on the border in. a 
style peculiar to the Paiutis, Navahoes and Havasupais. No other 
weavers make this diagonal border whip stitch that I call the "herring 
bone" finish. It is both a beautiful and appropriate stitch, resembling 
somewhat the braiding on a whip, and is a distinguished mark of the 
weave of these three peoples. 



no 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



This beautiful effect is produced by a single splint. The splint is 
passed under the sewing of the last coil and then drawn over it and 
backward. It is then passed under again, upward and forward, just in 
advance of the starting point. Thus by sewing backward and forward, 
as one coils a kite string, this braided effect is produced. 

Matthews says the Navahoes claim this finishing stitch as peculiarly 
their own. "These Indians say that the Apaches and other neighboring 
tribes finish the margins of their baskets with simple circular turns 
of the investing fibre like that in the rest of the basket. The Navaho 
basket, they believe, may always be known by the peculiar finish 
described, and they say that if among other tribes a woman is found 
who makes the Navaho finish she is of Navaho descent or has learned 
her art of a Navaho. They account for this by a legend which is per- 
haps not wholly mythical. In the ancient days a Navaho woman was 
seated under a juniper tree finishing a basket in the style of the other 
tribes, as was then the Navaho custom, and while so engaged she was 
intently thinking if some stronger and more beautiful margin could not 
be devised. As she thus sat in thought the God Qastceyelci tore from 
the overhanging juniper tree a small spray and cast it into her basket. 





FIG. 109 SHOWING ONE INCH OF !• IG. Ill ONE SQUARE INCH OF 

THE WEAVE OF HOPI SACRED FIG. 110. 

TRAYS. 

It immediately occurred to her to imitate in her work the peculiar fold 
of the juniper leaves and she soon devised a way of doing so. If this 
margin is worn through or torn in any way the basket is unfit for sacred 
use. The basket is given to the shaman when the rites are done. He 
must not keep it, but must give it away, and he must be careful never 
to eat out of it. Notwithstanding its sacred use, it is no desecration to 
serve food in it." 

The colors are invariably white, black and reddish brown, and the 
design is interesting. Nearly twenty years ago the favorite wife of the 
last great chief of the Paiutis, Winnemucca, gave me one of these 
basket bowls, and told me the meaning of the design. The Paiuti 
believes m a lower, or underworld that corresponds in its hills and val- 
leys to this upper world. These are represented in this design. It was 
from this underworld that all the Paiutis came, and from these have 
sprung all the races of the earth. The means of communication between 
the lower and upper worlds is called Shipapu, and is likewise repre- 
sented in the opening. Now, strange to say, the simple-hearted Paiuti 



WEAVES OR STITCHES OP INDIAN BASKETRY. 



Ill 



woman sincerely believes that if she closes this representation of 
shipapu she will render it impossible for any more Paiutis to be born 
into this upper world. This is the primal significance of the design, 
and the only one known to its maker. The hole is not made by her, as 
so many affirm, that the evil spirits (achindi) may be allowed to escape, 
but it is to her the representation of shipapu which she would not dare 
knowingly to close up. 





FIG. 110. COILED BASKET AND LID FROM UPPER EGYPT, NUBIA. 

There may be, however, some color for the idea of this being an 
"escape hole" for evil spirits if one considers the remarks of the Nava- 
hoes, from whom most of these baskets are obtained. Believing that 
there are evil spirits in the underworld, and knowing the Paiuti idea 
represented in the basket, the Navahoes point to the opening and 
sententiously remark "Achindi ! Achindi !" and from this the assump- 
tion referred to doubtless has grown. 

The common Paiuti carrying baskets and seed roasting trays are 
coarsely woven. The warp twigs are made to open out and the new ones 
are added as the basket enlarges. The weft splints are carried around 
in pairs and twined around two of these warp twigs so as to produce 
a twilled effect, somewhat after the fashion of the work of the Haidas 
and Claliams. 



112 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



Their basket water-bottles, or tus-jeh, as they are called by the 
Navahof-s, are striking- specimens of adaptability to environment. 
Wandering over trackless deserts, often miles away from water, a carry- 
ing vessel was needed for the precious element that would withstand 
more than ordinary risks of breakage. The white mans canteen of 
zinc is not so well adapted for desert uses as is the Paiuti tusjeh with 
two horse-hair lugs woven into the side. A thong of buckskin, passed 
through these and over the saddle fastens it so that it can safely be 
carried. Should it fall there is no danger of it being broken. Horses may 
run away, fall, kick and the tusjeh be in the heart of the difficulty and 
it will withstand all strains and resist all pressures. The shape is almost 
uniform ; rounded at the bottom so that it can easily be rested in the 
sand, bellying out and retreating to the neck, which is wider at the 
lip than at the point of junction with the body. It is coated with pinion 
gum. The weave is very coarse and of the coiled order, with a neat 
wrap stitch on the rim. 



fsrffiSli 








FIG. 112. UNORNAMENTED ORAIBI 
PLAQUE OR SACRED MEAL 
TRAY. 



FIG. 113. ONE INCH OP FIG. 112. 



The Hopituh, or Moki, are the makers of the sacred meal trays of 
striking design and coloring that find place in all collections. Of these 
there are three distinct types (see Fig. 81), the yucca or ainole, made at 
the three villages of the middle mesa, Mashongnavi, Shipauluvi and 
Shimopavi, the willow, made at Oraibi on the western mesa, and the 
coarse yucca corn and peach baskets made at all the seven villages (see 
Figs. 107 and 85). 

In Fig. 108 is represented Kuchyeampsi, the finest weaver of the 
former type among the Hopi, though she is here shown making baskets 
rather than plaques or trays. The weaving, however, is of exactly the 
same character. The material of the inner coil is a native grass, called 
wu-u-shi, something like our broom-corn. The coil is wrapped with 
splints stripped from the leaves of the amole, or soap-plant, one of the 
yucca family. ("See Fig. too). These splints are generally about a 
sixteenth of an inch in width, though for finer work they are made 



WEAVES OR STITCHES OP INDIAN BASKETRY. 



113 



smaller. The wrapped coil varies from a quarter of an inch to an inch 
in diameter. As the coil progresses, each stitch or wrap is caught 
into a stitch of the coil beneath with such uniform exactness, that it has 
the appearance of a worm closely coiled up. The native colors of the 
designs were black, brown, yellow, red and the natural white of the 
yucca, but of late years the aniline dyes have been used with the 
Indian's fondness for glaring and incongrous results. The designs are 




PIG. 114. ORAIBI SACRED MEAL TRAY. SPIDER WEB PATTERN. 



multiform, every conceivable pattern being worked out as if from the 
suggestions of a kaleidescope. 

These trays are used by the Hopi in their vai ious ceremonials for 
the carrying of the "hoddentin" or sacred meal. Sprinkling of this meal 
constitutes an important part of all Hopi ritual for the propitiation of 
the evil powers of nature, for, as I have elsewhere shown the Hopi is 
the greatest ritualist of the world. 

The singular and interesting symbolism of these trays I have else- 
where described. 

For comparison with this style of Hopi basketry I have introduced 
Fig. no which represents a coiled basket of upper Egypt, made of 



ii4 



INDIAN BASKETRY 



bundles of palm-leaf veins, sewed with strips of palm leaf. The orna- 
mentation is in red and black. A long red or black strip of leaf is laid 
on the outside of a coil and caught down by alternate stitches. The 
varying of the number of the stitches caught over or covered by these 
strips produces a multitude of effects. These baskets are frequently 
pitched for boats or "Moses' arks." 

Fig. in represents one square inch of Fig. no showing the sewing 
and stripes of ornamentation. 

It will also be noticed in the finishing off of the coil in the lower 
portion of the lid that the "open gate" of the Hopis is presented. 
Whether the Egyptians had the same symbolism in regard to this 
finishing off of the baskets, is an interesting subject of inquiry. 

Fig. 112 is a plain unornamented willow-woven basket of the Oraibis. 
This latter, as far as I know, is the only example of aboriginal weaving 
similar to the ordinary willow ware basketry of civilization. It is made 
in exactly the same style, the warp twigs radiating from the center, and 





PIG. 115. COARSE WILLOW 
HOPI CARRYING BASKET. 



FIG. 116. 



ZUNI CARRYING 
BASKET. 



the woof twigs passing in and out in the simple weave. The designs 
found on these trays are often very striking. Though necessarily 
controlled by the weave stitch, the imaginative and poetic Hopi woman 
introduces the object she sees, the things she dreams of, the powers 
she worships and the elements of which she is afraid, by means of differ- 
ent colored twigs, and the results are both interesting and attractive. 

Fig. 113 is one square inch, natural size, of Fig. 112, and shows the 
regular disposition of the weaving. 

Fig. 1 14 is a similarly constructed Oraibi basket, but here a pattern 
is clearly made by the use of colored twigs. The ornamentation is the 
"spider-web" pattern elsewhere described. 

The Hopis of all the villages weave a very coarse basket of which 
Fig. 115 is a type. Coarse willow twigs are woven around a warp, 



WEAVES OR STITCHES OP INDIAN BASKETRY. 



II 



the four corners of which are composed of two strong sticks bent at 
the bottom as shown in Fig. 115. Between these, other upright twigs 
are placed, and the woof introduced according to the whim, 01, more 
probably, lazy carelessness of the weaver. Sometimes the stitches are 
single, then double and even triple, and again, on a higher row of weave, 
just the reverse. The result is an irregular, uneven and slovenly-look- 
ing production, that has no other justification for its existence than its 
usefulness as a fruit or corn carrying basket. 

Most of the Zuni basketry is of a coarse, rude character, with 
neither form nor ornament to make it attractive. Small round willows, 
and the stem of the yucca, which attains a long slender growth in this 
region, are used for this purpose, and most of the women can make 
baskets of this character. But I do not know a single weaver of the 
finer baskets in any of the villages of Zuni to-day. 

Fig. 116 is a good example of the coarser kind of Zuni handicraft 
and is used for carrying peaches and such-like fruits, etc., and Fig 117 
is a similar basket used for the same purpose, but of somewhat differ- 
ent shape. 




PIG. 117. ZUNI CARRYING BASKET. 



PIG. IIS. EPPECTS PRODUCED BY 
VARYING THE ORDER OP IN- 
TERSECTION. SEMINOLE 
WORK. 



The Washoes of Nevada make a basket similar in weave to the 
Paiutis, and which can be differentiated only in that the colors used are 
varied, the designs or symbols more diverse and generally the weave 
more varied, the designs or symbols more diverse and generally the 
weave is much finer. The "queen" of the Washoe weavers is Dat-so-la- 
lee, a full-blooded Indian, sixty years of age, whose work is wonderful 
in its shape, symbolization and weave. Fig. 56 shows her, surrounded by 
her work. Though heavy and plump, her delicacy of touch, artistic skill 
and poetical conception excite admiration. Her hand is symmetrically 
perfect, her ringers plump and tapering and her nails beautiful "filberts." 
She is fully conscious of the sensations and emotions her work arouses 
in the hearts of connoisseurs. During the past three years she has 
produced sixteen baskets with sixteen stitches to the inch, three baskets 
with twenty stitches to the inch ; and four baskets with thirty stitches 
to the inch. Her white splints are made solely of willow. A willow 
shoot is split from twelve to twenty-four splints, with the teeth and 
finger nails. The finer the stitch desired the greater the number of 



n6 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



splints from the shoot. Only those portions of the fibre immediately 
over the pith and under the bark are used. They are all then made 
'of uniform size by scraping with a piece of glass. The warp, or inside 
of the coil, is generally composed of two thin willows stripped of the 
bark. For colors the red bark of the mountain birch, and the dark 
root of a large fern that grows in the foothills of the Sierra are used. 

So exquisite is Dat-so-la-le's work that her baskets have brought 
fabulous prices ranging from $150 to $250. Three of her recent 
creations are valued even much higher. Fig. 119 is one ot her master- 
pieces. 




FIG. 119. HIGHLY DECORATED, BEAUTIFULLY WOVEN 
WASHOE BASKET. 



There is little that one can write about to differentiate the finer 
basketry of the White Mountain and San Carlos Apaches from that other 
branch of the great Apache family known as the Havasupais, and yet 
the expert can tell the difference in a moment. The finishing off border 
stitch of the Havasupais is the herring bone stitch before described as 
belonging to the basketry of the Paiutis, while that of the Southern 
Apaches is an ordinary wrapped stitch, a simple coiling around of the 
splint. 

In the coarser work of the Havasupais two other distinct weaves 
are used, as will be seen later in illustration of their kathaks, or carry- 
ing-baskets, and their esuwas or pinion-gum-covered water ollas. 

The Pimas and Maricopas make baskets similar to those of the 
Paiuti, Havasupai and Apache, and yet generally distinguishable. The 
work is coarser than that of the Havasupai or Apache, and the border 
stitch is generally of a backward and forward kind of weave peculiar to 
these people. Their designs are striking and varied, the Greek fret and 
circular forms of the Swastika being largely represented. Many illus- 
trations of Pima work are found in these pages. 



WEAVES OR STITCHES OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 



117 




M O 

Hj O 

H O 
OO 

M 

o o 
f 

F td 

a > 

O 02 

5 H 




n8 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



In later chapters, where individual specimens of many and varied 
baskets are shown, the weaves are explained and illustrated and to 
those chapters the student is referred for further information upon this 
interesting branch of the subject. 

In a letter to the author Professor O. T. Mason suggests that: 




FIG. 122. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BASKET, USED AS A DRUM. 

"For my part, I believe that every type of basketry on the West Coast 
represents either a tribe or a linguistic family. That the various types 
get about from one tribe to another by intermarriage and by barter 1 
do not doubt, but one tribe does not learn the art or finesse from the 
other." 




FIG. 122a.— TOP OF A BOTTLE-NECK BASKET IN THE McLEOD COLLECTION. 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. 



119 



CHAPTER IX. 

BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS; THEIR ORIGIN AND 
RELATION TO ART. 




^ UCH a large variety of basket forms is 
now found to exist that one is led 
by natural curiosity to inquire as to 
their origin. In preceding and suc- 
ceeding chapters various forms are presented, and some of them dis- 
cussed in connection with their origin. The great importance of this 
branch of the subject, however, demands that, even at the risk of repe- 
tition, a full chapter be devoted to a discussion as to the origin, uses, 
and relation to art of the various forms and decorations found there- 
upon, of the basketry of the regions under consideration. In the mam 
the ideas and illustrations of this chapter are taken bodily from Pro- 
fessor William H. Holmes' admirable monograph entitled "Textile 
Art in its Relation to the Development of Form and Ornament." 

While the advent of the Spaniards undoubtedly checked the free and 
spontaneous growth of American aboriginal art, there is still enough 
remains among the basket-making peoples to enable us distinctly to 
trace their mental methods and reach reasonably accurate conclusions 
as to the processes of their art development. The processes (^manu- 
facture and ornamentation of basketry are doubtless little, if any, 
changed, since precolumbian times, so that in studying its historic and 
every day manifestations, we are having the mystic veil drawn aside, in 
some measure, and taking glimpses of the native life of these people 



120 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



before the advent of the Spaniards became a disturbing element. 

Indian basketry, though in a more circumscribed area than Indian 
pottery, presents two classes of phenomena of importance in the study 
of evolution of aesthetic culture. These relate, first, to form, and 
second, to ornament. 

In form there are: i. Useful shapes, which may or may not be 
ornamental. 2. Aesthetic shapes, which are ornamental and may be 
useful. 

It is impossible to fix time boundaries and say when a certain form 
came into existence, or where and how it had its origin. Yet it is gen- 
erally accepted that, the simpler the form the earlier its use and the 
more primitive the people who introduced it. while the more complex 




FIG. 124. PUEBDO INDIAN SLEEPING MAT. Fig. 125. Havasupai Water Bottle. 



and specialized forms are the product of the older peoples, more ad- 
vanced in civilization. 

That basketry antedates pottery has already been shown. The 
subject is ably presented by Lieut. Cushing in his "Pueblo Pottery and 
Zuni Culture Growth.'' Canes first and then gourds were used to Carry 
water. Owing to the frangibility of the gourd, however, it was difficult 
of transportation, and, therefore, liable to be productive of great dis- 
tress to those who relied upon it for carrying their water supply across 
the desert. To overcome this the gourd was encased in a rude net of 
fibrous yucca leaves or flexible willow or other splints. I have seen 
many such ancient water vessels used in Hopi, Navaho, Zuni and other 
ceremonials. 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. 



121 



This was a crude beginning. The water-tight wicker-basket fol- 
lowed, which as Gushing shows, demonstrates by its nomenclature its 
origin from the gourd. 

The strength, durability and consequent reliability in the carrying 
of water for long distances would soon make baskets common, even 
though difficult "and tedious of manufacture. Pinion gum, mineral 
asphaltum, pitch or other glutinous substances, being at hand, were 
readily suggested for the repairing of any leakage. 

As before shown baskets were used long before the advent of pot- 
tery for cooking purposes, and by the primitive Havasupais are still 

so used. 

In studying basketry from its art side, the subject first presented 
naturally is that of form. As a piece of basketry, whether crude or 
artistic is considered, the question immediately arises, from whence did 
the maker obtain her idea of this form? Undoubtedly to the imitative 




PIG. 



126. YAKIMA BASKET, WITH ESTHETIC 
CHARACTERISTICS OF FORM. 



faculty all primitive forms owe their origin, and at the same time it is 
equally certain that the form must correspond to the function the 
basket is required to perform. The aesthetic features of form are a 
later development, brought about by general aesthetic growth and 
applied to this special industry. 

Holmes well says : "In America there is a vast body of primitive, 
indigenous art having no parallel in the world. Uncontaminated oy 
contact with the complex conditions of civilized art, it offers the best 
possible facilities for the study of the fundamental principles of aesthetic 
development." 

Rigid objects in textile art (rigid, as opposed to pliable, compare 
water bottles and water-tight bowl baskets with nets, woven garments, 
etc.), depend largely for their form upon their adaptability to the usage 
required of them. This usage Holmes terms "function," and he states 
that, "while their shape still accords with their functional office, they ex- 
hibit attributes of form generally recognized as pleasing to the mind, 
which are expressed by the terms g-race, elegance, symmetry, and the 



122 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



like. Such attributes are not separable from functional attributes, but 
originate and exist conjointly with them." 

Basketry being one of the earliest of the textile industries manifests, 
as largely a.s ad primary industries must, the imitative faculty in a high 
degree. Hence in natural objects are to be sought the form inspirations 
for primitive basketry. 

"Woven mats, such as Fig. 124, in early use by many tribes of men 
and originating in the attempt to combine leaves, vines and branches 
for purposes of comfort, are flat because of function, the degree of flat- 
ness depending upon the size of filaments and mode of combination ; 
and in outline they are irregular, square, round or oval, as a result 
of many causes and influences, embracing use, construction, material, 
models, etc." 

In point of contour the plain food basket-bowls so common through- 
out the South-west, such as are shown in Figs. 12, 13, and many other 
pages, have somewhat more decided claims upon aesthetic attention 
than the preceding, as the curves exhibited mark a step of progress in 





FIGS. 127, 128, 129. SIMPLE WEAVES IN ONE COLOR. 

complexity and grace. How much of this is due to intention and how 
much to technical perfection must remain in doubt. In work so perfect 
we are wont, however unwarrantably, to recognize the influence of 
taste. 

"A third example, presented in Fig. 125, illustrates an advanced 
stage in the art of basketry and exhibits a highly specialized shape. 
The forces and influences concerned in its evolution may be analyzed 
as follows : A primal origin in function and a final adaptation to a 
special function, the carrying and storing of water ; a contour full to give 
result to a certain undetermined extent of the aesthetic tendencies of the 
capacity, narrow above for safety, and pointed below that it may be set 
in sand ; curves kept within certain hounds by the limitations of con- 
struction ; and a goodly share of variety, symmetry and grace, the 
result to a certain undetermined extent of the esthetic tendencies of the 
artist's mind. In regard to the last point there is generally in forms 
so simple an element of uncertainty ; but many examples may be found 
in which there is positive evidence of the existence of a strong desire 
on the part of the primitive basket-maker to enhance beauty of form. 
It will be observed that the textile materials and construction do not 
lend themselves freely to minuteness in detail or to complexity of out- 
line, especially in those small ways in which beauty is most readily 
expressed 

"Modifications of a decidedly aesthetic character are generally sug- 
gested to the primitive mind by some functional, constructive or acci- 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. 



123 



dental feature which may with ease be turned in the new direction. 
In the vessel presented in Fig. 126, the work of Alaskan Indians, the 
margin is varied Dy altering me relations oi the three maiginal turns of 
the coil, producing a scalloped effect. This is without reference to use, 
is uncalled for in construction, and hence is, in all probability, the direct 
result of aesthetic tendencies.'" 

"In the pursuit of this class of enrichment there is occasionally 
noticeable a tendency to overload the subject with extraneous details. 
This is not apt to occur, however, in the indigenous practice of an art, 
but comes more frequently from a loss of equilibrium or balance in 
motives or desires, caused by untoward exotic influence. 

"When, through suggestions derived from contact with civilized 
art, the savage undertakes to secure all the grace and complexity 
observed in the works of more cultured peoples, he does so at the 
expense of construction and adaptability to use. An example of such 
work is presented in Fig. 91, a weak, useless, and wholly vicious 
piece of basketry. Other equally meretricious pieces represent goblets, 






FIG. 130. DIAGONAL 

COMBINATION, 

GIVING HERRING 

BONE EFFECT. 



FIG. 131. ELABORATION FIG. 133. 

OF DIAGONAL SIMPLE TWINED WEAVE. 

COMBINATION, GIVING 
TRIANGULAR FIGURES. 



bottles and teapots. They are the work of the Indians of the northwest 
coast and are executed in the neatest possible manner, bearing evidence 
of the existence of cultivated taste. 

"If, in the making of a vessel, the demands of use are fully satisfied, 
if construction is perfect of its kind, if materials are uniformly suitable, 
and if models are not absolutely bad, it follows that the result must 
necessarily possess in a high degree those very attributes that all 
agree are pleasing to the eye. 

"Form has its relation to ornament in that the contour of the vessel 
controls its ornament to a large extent, dictating the positions of design 
and setting its limits ; figures are in stripes, zones, rays, circles, ovals 
or rectangles — according, in no slight measure, to the character of the 
spaces afforded by details of contour." 

Having dealt clearly with the main subject of form as related to art, 
Professor Holmes thus expatiates upon color and design modifying 
form and their joint and combined relations to the development of art. 

"Color is one of the most constant factors in man's environment, and 



124 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

it is so strongly and persistently forced upon his attention, so useful as 
a means of identification and distinction, that it necessarily receives 
a large share of consideration. It is probably one of the foremost 
objective agencies in the formation and development of the aesthetic 
sense.' 

"Color employed in the art is not related to use, excepting, perhaps, 
in symbolic and superstitious matters ; nor is it of consequence _ in 
construction, although it derives importance from the manner in which 
construction causes it to be manifested to the eye. It finds its chief 
use in the field of design, in making evident to the eye the figures with 
which objects of art are embellished." 

In enhancing beauty there are phenomena present in the art with- 
out man's volition that tend to suggest decorative conceptions and give 
shape to them. "The latter class of features arise as a necessity of the 
art, they gradually come into notice and are seized upon by the aesthetic 
faculty, and under its guidance they assist in the development of a 
system of ornament of world-wide application." 

Figures or patterns of a relievo nature arise during construction 




FIG. 132. PERUVIAN WORK BASKET OF REEDS, 
WITH STRONGLY RELIEVED RIDGES. 

as a result of the intersections and other more complex relations, the 
bindings, of the warp and woof or of inserted or applied elements. 
And when color was applied to either warp or woof new conceptions 
of desigm would arise entirely independent of the will cf the artisan. 
The very nature of the art is such that once let there be introduced 
accidentally or otherwise, a new form or twist of weave or stitch, and 
a splint differing in color from the other splints, new characteristics 
of appearance in weave and color would be presented regardless of 
the desire of the artist, or the effect produced upon the eye. 

It was the conscious perception of these adventitious effects, the 
pleasure they gave, and the desire and determination to repeat them that 
gave the first great impulse towards the rapid development of the 
aesthetic nature. 

"But it is not to be supposed for a moment that the inception of 
aesthetic notions dates from this association of ideas of beauty with 
textile characters, Long before textile objects of a high class were 
made, ideas of an aesthetic nature had been entertained bv the mind, 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. 



125 



as, for example, in connection with personal adornment. The skin had 
been painted, pendants placed about the neck, and bright feathers set_ m 
the hair to enhance attractiveness, and it is not difficult to conceive 
of the transfer of such ideas from purely personal associations to the 
embellishment of articles intimately associated with the person. No 
matter, however, what the period or manner of the association of such 
ideas with the textile are, that association may be taken as the datum 
point in the development of a great system of decoration whose dis- 
tinguishing characters are the result of the geometric textile construc- 

Primitive work was plain in weave, simple and unembellished, and 
consequently, wholly geometric and extremely monotonous. 

As intelligence and skill grew, simple weaves were modified or 
combined with others, without interfering with perfection of structure 
or functional uses, and thus a new field opened in the development 
of decorative tendencies. 




PIG. 134. SURFACE EFFECT OF TWINED LATTICE 

' COMBINATION IN BASKET OF CLALLAM 

INDIANS OF WASHINGTON. 

With the introduction of color and its addition to either simple or 
complex weaves an added impetus to this development was_ given. 
Hence we may broadly classify the ornamentation of basketry into the 
following divisions : 

1. Ornamentation by simple weave in one color. 

2. Ornamentation by a combination of simple weaves in one color. 

3. Ornamentation by simple weave in a combination of colors. 

4. Ornamentation by combination of weaves in a single color or a 
combination of colors. 

5. Ornamentation by extraneous addition. 

"In right angled weaving the figures combine in straight lines, 
which run parallel or cross at uniform distances and angles. In radiate 
weaving, as in basketry, the radial lines are crossed in an equally formal 



126 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



manner by \concentrid lines. In other classes of combination there is 
an almost equal degree of geometricity."* 

In Figs. 127, 128 and 129 we have the forms of simple weave in one 
color clearly shown, and Figs. 112 and 21 are types 01 baskets that 
accord with this classification. 

By changes in the order of intersection, without changing the type 
of combination, we reach a series of results quite unlike the preceding ; 
so distinct, indeed, that, abstracted from constructive relationships, 
there would be little suggestion of correlation. In the example given 
in Fig. 130 the series of filaments interlace, not by passing over and 
under alternate strands, as in the preceding set of examples, but by 
extending over and under a number of the opposing series at each step 
and in such order as to give wide horizontal ridges ribbed diagonally. 

This example is from an ancient work basket obtained at Ancon, 
Peru, and shown in Fig. 132. The surface features are in strong relief, 
giving a pronounced herring bone effect. 

Slight changes in the succession of parts enable the workmen to 
produce a great variety of decorative patterns, an example of which 




FIG. 135. FIG. 136. . FIG. 137. 

Surface effect in impacted Surface effect obtained by Surface effect obtained by 

work of twined combination, placing the warp strands close crossing the warp series in 

together and the woof cables open twined work, 
far apart. 



is shown in Fig. 131. The Hopi mat shown in Fig. 124 is also a good 
illustration, and another piece, said to be of Seminole workmanship, 
is given in Fig. 118. These and similar relieved results are fruitful 
sources of primitive decorative motives. They are employed not only 
within the art itself, but in many other arts less liberally supplied with 
suggestions of embellishment. 

Taking a second type of combination, we have a family of resultant 
patterns in the main distinguishable from the preceding. 

Fig. 133 illustrates the simplest form of what Dr. O. T. Mason has 
called the twined combination, a favorite one with many of our native 
tribes. The strands of the woof series are arranged in twos and in 
weaving are twisted half around at each intersection, inclosing the 
opposing fillets. The resulting open work has much the appearance 
of ordinary netting, and when of pliable materials and distended or 
strained over an earthen or gourd vessel the pattern exhibited is strik- 
ingly suggestive of decoration. The result of this combination upon a 
lattice foundation of rigid materials is well shown in the large basket 

*As the major portion of this chapter is compiled from Holmes's mono- 
graph, it will be completed without further quotation marks. 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. 



127 



presented in Fig. 134. Other variants of this type are given in the 
three succeeding figures. 

The result seen in Fig. 135 is obtained by impacting the horizontal 
or twined series of threads. The surface is nearly identical with that 
of the closely impacted example of the preceding type (Fig. 127). The 
peculiarities are more marked when colors are used. When the doubled 
and twisted series of strands are placed far apart and the opposing series 
are laid side by side a pleasing result is given, as shown in Fig. 136 
and in the body of the conical basket illustrated in Fig. 139. 

In Fig. 137 we have a peculiar diagonally crossed arrangement of 
the untwisted series of filaments, giving a lattice work effect. 

Fig. 138 serves to show how readily this style of weaving lends 
itself to the production of decorative modification, especially in the 
direction of the concentric zonal arrangement so universal in vessel- 
making arts. 




PIG. 138. DECORATIVE EFFECTS 

PRODUCED BY VARIATIONS IN THE 

RADIATE OR WARP SERIES IN AN 

OPEN WORK TRAY. 

KLAMATH WORK. 



FIG. 139. CONICAL BASKET OF THE KLAMATH 
INDIANS OF OREGON, SHOWING PECULIAR 
TWINED EFFECT AND AN OPEN WORK BORDER. 




The examples given serve to indicate the unlimited decorative 
resources possessed by the art without employing any but legitimate 
constructive elements, and it will be seen that still wider results can 
be obtained by combining two or more varieties or styles of binding 
in the construction and embellishment of a single object or in the same 
piece of fabric. A good, though very simple, illustration of this is shown 
in the tray or mat presented in Fig. 124. In this case a border, varying 
from the center portion in appearance, is obtained by changing one 
series of the filaments from a multiple to a single arrangement. 

The conical basket shown in Fig. 139 serves to illustrate the same 
point. In this case a rudely worked, though effective, border is 
secured by changing the angle of the upright series near the top and 
combining them by plaiting, and in such a way as to leave a border 
of open work. 



126 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 140. SIMPLE RETICULATED WEAVE 




FIG. 141. 
PLEASING RESULTS FROM SIMPLE VARIATIONS. 




FIG. 142. FURTHER VARIATION. 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. 



129 



It may not be out of place here to show three specimens of reti- 
culated weaving bearing somewhat upon this subject. Fig. 140 is a 
piece of simple reticulated weaving taken from an impression upon 
an ancient piece of pottery obtained in Tennessee. It will readily be 
seen that Figs. 141 and 142 are variations, easily made, from the 
simple form, yet both producing new and pleasing results. 

Appended ornaments are not amenable to the geometric laws of 
fabrication to the extent observed in other classes of ornament. They 
are, however, attached in ways consistent with the textile system, and 
are counted and spaced with great care, producing designs of a more 
or less pronounced geometric character. The work is a kind of 
embroidery, the parts employed being of the nature of pendants. 

These include numberless articles derived from nature and art. It 
will suffice to present a few examples already at hand. 




FIG. 144. CALIFORNIA INDIAN 
BASKET WITH PENDANTS OF 
BEADS AND BITS OF SHELL. 



FIG. 143. APACHE BASKET WITH 

PENDANT BUCKSKIN STRANDS 

TIPPED WITH BITS OF TIN. 

Fig. 143 illustrates a large, well made basket, the work of the 
Apache Indians. It serves to indicate the method of employing tassels 
and clustered pendants, which in this case consist of buckskin strings 
tipped with conical bits of tin. The checker pattern is in color. 

Fig. 144 illustrates the use of other varieties of pendants. A feather 
decked basket made by the northwest coast Indians is embellished with 
pendant Garments consisting of strings of beads tipped with bits of 
bright sheiT Many others of these may be seen in Figs. 50, 95, 98 to 
102, 103, &c. 

I have already spoken of color in a general way, as to its necessary 
presence in art. My object now is to indicate the part it takes in textile 
design, its methods of. expression, the processes by which it advances 
in elaboration, and the part it takes in all geometric decoration. 

It will be necessary, in the first place, to examine briefly the normal 
tendencies of color combination while still under the direct domination 
of constructive elaboration. Tn the wav of illustration, let us take first 
& ^ries of filamen+s,' sav in the natural color of the material, and yass 



130 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



through them in the simplest interlaced style a second series having a 
distinct color. A very simple geometric pattern is produced, as shown 
in Fig. 145. It is a sort of checker, an emphasized presentation of the 
relievo pattern shown in Fig. 127, the figures running horizontally, 
vertically, and diagonally. Had these filaments been accidentally asso- 
ciated in construction, the results might have been the same, but it ia 
unnecessary to indicate in detail the possibilities of adventitious color 
combinations. So far as they exhibit system at all it is identical with 
the relievo elaboration. 

Assuming that the idea of developing these figures into something 
more elaborate and striking is already conceived, let us study the 
processes and tendencies of growth. A very slight degree of ingen- 
uity will enable the workman to vary the relation of the_ parts, pro- 
ducing a succession of results such, perhaps, as indicated in Fig. 146. 
In this example we have rows of isolated squares in white which may 
be turned hither and thither at pleasure, within certain angles, but 
they result in nothing more than monotonous successions of squares. 




FIG. 145. 

PATTERN PRODUCED 

BY INTERLACING 

STRANDS OF 

DIFFERENT COLORS. 



FIG. 146. FIG. 147. ISOLATED FIGURES 

PATTERN PRODUCED PRODUCED BY MODIFYING 
BY INTERLACING ORDER OF INTERSECTION. 
STRANDS OF 
DIFFERENT COLORS. 



Additional facility of expression is obtained by employing dark 
strands in the vertical series also, and large, isolated areas of solid color 
may be produced by changing the order of intersection, certain of the 
fillets being carried over two or more of the opposing series and in con- 
tiguous spaces at one step, as seen in Fig. 147. With these elementary 
resources the weaver has very considerable powers of expression, as 
will be seen in Fig. 148, which is taken from a basket made by South 
American Indians, and in Fig. 149, where human figures are delineated. 
The patterns in such cases are all rigidly geometric and exhibit stepped 
outlines of a pronounced kind. With impacting and increased refine- 
ment of fillets the stepped character is in a considerable measure lost 
sight of and realistic, graphic representation is to a greater extent 
within the workman's reach. It is probable, however, that the idea of 
weaving complex ideographic characters would not occur to the primi- 
tive mind at a very early date, and a long period of progress would 
elapse before delineative subjects would be attempted. 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. 



131 



For the purpose of looking still more closely into the tendencies of 
normal textile decorative developement I shall present a series of Indian 
baskets, choosing mainly from the closely woven or impacted varieties 
because they are so well represented in our collections and at the same 
time are very generally embellished with designs in color; besides, 
they are probably among the most simple and primitive textile products 
known. I have already shown that several types of combination when 
closely impacted produce very similar surface characters and encourage 
the same general style of decoration. In nearly all, the color features 
are confined to one series of fillets — those of the woof — the other the 
warp, being completely hidden from view. In the preceding series the 




FIG. 14S. PATTERN PRODUCED BY SIMPLE ALTERNATIONS OP 
LIGHT AND DARK FILLETS. 




FIG. 149. 
CONVENTIONAL HUMAN FIGURES FROM AN ANCIENT PERUVIAN BASKET. 



132 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



warp and woof were almost equally concerned in the expression of 
design. Here but one is used, and in consequence there is much free- 
dom of expression, as the artist carries the colored filaments back 
and forth or inserts new ones at will. Still it will be seen that in doing 
this he is by no means free ; he must follow the straight and narrow 
pathway laid down by the warp and woof, and, do what he may, he 
arrives at purely geometric results. 

I will now present the examples, which for the sake of uniformity 
are in all cases of the coiled ware. If a basket is made with no other 
idea than that of use the surface is apt to be pretty uniform in color, the 
natural color of the woof fillets. If decoration is desired a colored 
fillet is introduced, which, for the time, takes the place and does the duty 
of the ordinary strand. Fig. 150 serves to show the construction and 
surface appearance of the base of a coil made vessel still quite free from 
any color decoration. Now, if it is desired to begin a design, the plain 
wrapping thread is dropped and a colored fillet is inserted and the coil- 
ing continues. Carried once around the vessel we have an encircling 




FIG. 150. BASE OP COILED BASKET 
SHOWING THE METHOD OP BUILD- 
ING BY DUAL COILING. The base 
or warp coil is composed of untwisted 
fibre, and is formed by adding- to the 
free end as the coiling- goes on. The PIG. 151. 
woof, or binding- filament, as it is coiled SIMPLE 
is caught into the upper surface of the WORK 



COILED BASKET WITH 
GEOMETRIC ORNAMENT. 
OP THE NORTHWEST 



preceding turn. 



COAST INDIANS. 



line of dark color corresponding to the lower line of the ornament seen 
in Fig. 151. If the artist is content with a single line of color he sets 
the end of the dark thread and takes up the light colored one previously 
dropped and continues the coiling. If further elaboration is desired it 
is easily accomplished. In the example given the workman has taken 
up the dark fillet again and carried it a few times around the next turn 
of the warp coil ; then it has been dropped and the white thread taken 
up, and again, in turn, another dark thread has been introduced and 
coiled for a few turns, and so on until four encircling rows of dark alter- 
nating rectangles have been produced. Desiring to introduce a mean- 
dered design he has taken the upper series of rectangles as bases and 
adding colored filaments at the proper time has carried oblique 
lines one to the right and the other to the left, across the six succeeding 
ridges^ of the warp coil. The pairs of stepped lines meeting above 
were joined in rectangles like those below, and the decoration was 
closed by a border line at the top. The vessel was then completed in 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. . 133 

the light colored material. In this ornament all forms are bounded by 
two classes of lines, vertical and horizontal (or, viewed from below, 
radial and encircling), the lines of the warp and the woof. Oblique 
bands of color are made up of series of rectangles, giving stepped out- 




FlG. 152. YOKUT COILED BASKET WITH 
ENCIRCLING BANDS OF ORNAMENT IN 
WHITE, RED AND BLACK UPON A YEL- 
LOWISH GROUND. 

lines. Although these figures are purely geometric, it is not imposs- 
ible that in their position and grouping they preserve a trace of some 
imitative conception modified to this shape by the forces of the art. 
They serve quite as well, however, to illustrate simple mechanical elab- 
oration as if entirely free from suspicion of associated ideas. 




FIG. 153. PIMA COILED BASKET WITH 
TWO BANDS OF MEANDERED ORNA- 
MENT. 



In Fig. 152 I present a superb piece of work executed by the Indians 
of the Tule River, California. It is woven in the closely impacted, 
coiled style. The ornament is arranged in horizontal zones and consists 
of a series of diamond shaped figures in white with red centers and 



134 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



black frames set side by side. The processes of substitution where 
changes of color are required are the same as in the preceding case 
and the forms of figures and the disposition of designs are the same, 
being governed by the same forces'. 

Another choice piece, from the Pima Indians of Arizona, is given in 
Fig. 153. The lines of the ornament adhere exclusively to the direc- 
tions imposed by the warp and the woof, the stripes of black color 
ascending with the turns of the fillet for a short distance, then for a time 
following the horizontal ridges, and again ascending, the complete 
result being a series of zigzag rays set very close togethei. These rays 
take an oblique turn to the left, and the dark figures at the angles, from 
the necessities of construction, form rows at right angles to these. A 
few supplementary rays are added toward the margin to fill out the 
widening spaces. Another striking example of the domination of tech- 
nique over design is illustrated in Fig. 154. 




FIG. 154. PIMA 



COILED BASKET WITH ORNAMENT ARRANGED 
IN ZIG-ZAG RATS. 



Two strongly marked, fret-like meanders encircle the vessel, the 
elements of which are ruled exclusively by the warp and woof, by the 
radiate and the concentric lines of construction. This is the work of 
the Pima Indians of Arizona. 

I shall close the series with a very handsome example of Indian bas- 
ketry and of basketry ornamentation (Fig. 155). The conical shape is 
highly pleasing and the design is thoroughly satisfactory and, like all 
the others, is applied in a way indicative of a refined sense of the decora- 
tive requirements of the utensil. The design is wholly geometric, and, 
although varied in appearance, is composed almost exclusively of dark 
triangular figr cs upon a light ground. The general grouping is in 
three horizontal or encircling bands agreeing with or following the 
foundation coil. Details are governed by the horizontal and the oblique 
structure lines. The vertical construction lines have no direct part in 
the conformation of the design excepting in so far as they impose a 
stepped character upon all oblique outlines. 

Now, as primitive peoples advance from savagery to barbarism 
there comes a time in the history of all kinds of textile products at which 
the natural technical progress of decorative elaboration is interfered 
with by forces from without the art. This occurs when ideas, symbolic 
or otherwise, come to be associated with the purely geometric figures, 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. 



135 



tending- to arrest or modify their development, or again, it occurs when 
the artist seeks to substitute mythologic subjects for the geometric 
units This period cannot be always well defined, as the first steps in 
this direction are so thoroughly subordinated to the textile forces 
Between what may be regarded as purely technical, geometric ornament 
and ornaments recognizably delineative, we find in each group of ad- 
vanced textile products a series of forms of mixed or uncertain pedigree. 
These must receive slight attention here. . 

Ficr 1 s6 represents a large and handsome basket obtained from the 
Apache It will be seen that the outline of the figures comprising the 
principal zone of ornament departs somewhat from the four ruling 
directions of the textile combination. This was accomplished by in- 
creasing the width of the steps in the outlines as the dark rays progres- 
sed resulting in curved outlines of eccentric character. This eccentnc- 
itv 'coupled with the verv unusual character of the details at the outer 
extremities of the figures, leads to the surmise that each part of the 
design is a conventional representation of some life form, a bird, an 
insect, or perhaps a man. 




FIG. 156. 
APACHE COILED BASKET ORNAMENTED WITH DEVICES PROBABLY 
VERY HIGHLY CONVENTIONALIZED MYTHOLOGICAL SUBJEClb. 

By the free introduction of such elements textile ornament loses its 
pristine geometric purity and becomes in a measure degraded. In the 
more advanced stages of Pueblo art the ornament of nearly all the tex- 
tiles is pervaded by ideographic characters, generally rude suggestions 
of life forms, borrowed, perhaps, from mythologic art. This is true ot 
much of the coiled basketry of the Hopi Indians. True, many ex- 
amples occur in which the ancient or indigenous geometric style is 
preserved, but the majority appear to be more or less modified. In 
many cases nothing can be learned from a study of the designs them- 
selves, as the particular style of construction is not adapted to realistic 
expression, and, at best, resemblances to natural forms are very remote. 
An example is given in Fig. 35. I shall expect, however, when the art 
of these peoples is better known to learn to what particular mythic con- 
cept these mixed or impure geometric devices refer. 

The same is true of other varieties of Hopi basketry, notably the 
common decorated wickerware, two specimens of which are given in 
Figs. 157 and 158. This ware is of the interlaced style, with radially 
arranged web filaments. Its geometric characters are easily distin- 
guished from those of the coiled war.e. Many examples exhibit purely 



136 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 155. 



McCLOUD COILED BASKET. WITH GEOMETRIC 
COMPOSED OF TRIANGULAR FIGURES. 



ORNAMENT 




FIG. 157. ORAIBI TRAY OF INTERLACED WICKER WEAVING, SHOWING 
GEOMETRIC ORNAMENT, PROBABLY MODIFIED BY IDEOGRAPHIC 

ASSOCIATION. 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. I 37 

conventional elaboration, the figures being arranged in rays, zones, 
checkers, and the like. It is to be expected, however, that the normal 
ornament of this class of products should be greatly interfered with 
through attempts to introduce extraneous elements, for the peoples 
have advanced to a stage of culture at which it is usual to attempt the 
introduction of mythologic representations into all art. 

Non-essential constructive features. — Now, all the varied effects 
of color and design described in the preceding paragraphs are obtained 
without seriously modifying the simple necessary construction, without 
resorting to the multiple extraordinary devices within easy reach. The 
development and utilization of the latter class of resources must now 
receive attention. In the preceding examples, when it was desired to 
begin a figure in color the normal ground filament was dropped out and 
a colored one set into its place and made to fill its office while it remain- 
ed; but we find that in many classes of work the colored elements were 
added to the essential parts, not substituted for them, although they 
are usually of use in perfecting the fabric by adding to serviceability as 




FIG. 158. ORAIBI WICKER BASKET OF INTERLACED STYLE OF WEAVING. 
SHOWING GEOMETRIC ORNAMENT, PROBABLY 
MODIFIED BY IDEOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION. 

well as to beauty. This is illustrated, for example, by the doubling of 
one series or of both warp and woof, by the introduction of pile, by 
wrapping filaments with strands of other colors, or by twisting in 
feathers. Savage nations in all parts of the world are acquainted with 
devices of this class and employ them with great freedom. The effects 
produced often correspond closely to needle-work, and the materials 
employed are often identiceal in both varieties of execution. 

The following examples will serve to illustrate my meaning. The 
effects seen in Fig. 159 are observed in a small hand wallet obtained in 
Mexico. The fillets employed appear to be wide, flattened straws of 
varied colors. In order to avoid the monotony of a plain checker 
certain of the light fillets are wrapped with thin fillets of dark tint in 
such a way that when woven the dark color appears in small squares 
placed diagonally with the fundamental checkers. Additional effects 
are produced by covering certain portions of the filaments with straws 
of distinct color, all being woven in with the fabric. By other devices 



138 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



certain parts of the fillets are made to stand out from the surface in 
sharp points and in ridges, forming geometric figures, either normal 
or added elements being employed. Another device is shown in Fig. 
160. Here a pattern is secured by carrying dark fillets back and forth 
over the light colored fabric, catching them down at regular intervals 
during the process of weaving. Again, feathers and other embellishing 
media are woven in with the roof. Two interesting baskets procured 
from the Indians of the Northwest coast are shown in Figs. 161 and 
162. Feathers of brilliant hues are fixed to and woven in with certain 
of the woof strands, which are treated, in the execution of patterns, 
just as are ordinary colored threads, care being taken not to destroy the 





FIG. 159. 
Ornament produced by wrapping 
certain light fillets with darker ones 
before weaving. Mexican work 



FIG. 160. 
Ornamental effect secured by weav- 
ing in series of dark fillets, forming 
a superficial device. Work of the 
Klamath Indians. 



beauty of the feathers in the process. The richly colored feathers lying 
smoothly in one direction are made to represent various figures neces- 
sarily geometric. 

At a very early stage of culture most peoples manifest decided artistic 
tendencies, which are revealed in attempts to depict various devices, 
life forms, and fancies upon the skin and upon the surfaces of uten- 
sils, garments, and other articles and objects. The figures are very 
often decorative in. effect and may be of a trivial nature, but very 
generally such art is serious and pertains to events or superstitions. 
The devices employed may be purely conventional or geometric, con- 
taining no graphic element whatever; but life forms afford the most 
natural and satisfactory means of recording, conveying, and symbol- 
izing ideas, and hence preponderate largely. 

An illustration is drawn from a fine example of the basketry of the 
Yokut Indians of California. The two figures of Fig. 163 form part of 
a spirally radiating band of ornament, which is shown to good advan- 
tage in the small cut of the complete basket in Fig. 164. It is of the 
coiled style of construction. The design is worked in four colors and 
the effect is quiet and rich. A fuller description of this beautiful basket 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. 



1 39 



will be found accompanying Fig. 236. Remarkably similar to this, 
is an ancient Peruvian basket, woven from rushes _ The base and rim 
of the basket are woven in the intertwined combination, but in trie 
decorated belt the style is changed to the plain right angled interlacing, 
for the reason, no doubt, that this combination was better suited to 
the development of the intended design. Besides the fundamental series 
of fillets the weaver resorted to unusual devices in order to secure 
certain desired results. In the first place the black horizontal series 
of filaments does not alternate in the simplest way with the brown series, 





PIGS 161 162. PINE CALIFORNIA BASKETRY, ORNAMENTED 
WITH FEATHER WORK. 

but where a wide space of the dark color is called for, several of the 
brown strands are passed over at one step, as in the head and body, 
and in the wider interspaces the dark strands pass under two or more of 
the opposing strands. In this way broad areas of color are obtained. 
It will be observed, however, that the construction is weakened by this 
modification, and that to remedy the defect two additional extra con- 




FIG. 164. FIGURES ON A YOKUT BASKET. 

structive series of fillets are added. These are of much lighter weight 
than the main series, that they may not obscure the pattern. Over the 
dark series they run vertically and over the light obliquely. 

It will be seen in Fig. 149 that the result, notwithstanding all this 
modification of procedure, is still remarkably like that of the preceding 
examples, the figures corresponding closely in kind and degree of 
geometricitv. 

The fact "is that in this coarse work refinement of, drawing is abso- 
lutely unattainable. It appears that the sharply pronounced steps ex- 
hibited in the outlines are due to the great width of the fillets used. 



140 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 163. CONVENTIONAL, FIGURES 
FROM A CALIFORNIA INDIAN BASKET. 




FIG. 165. HUMAN FIGURE MODIFIED BY EXECUTION IN 
CONCENTRIC INTERLACED STYLE OF WEAVING. 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. 



141 



That the range of results produced by varying styles of weaving and 
of woven objects may be appreciated, I present some additional 
examples. Coiled wares, for instance, present decorative phenomena 
strikingly at variance with those in which there is a rectangular dispos- 
ition of parts. Instead of the two or more interlacing series of parallel 
fillets exhibited in the latter style, we have one radiate and one concen- 
tric series. The effect of this arrangement upon the introduced human 
figure is very striking, as this will be seen by reference to Fig. 165 which 
represents a large tray obtained from the Hopi Indians. The figure- 
probably represents one of the mythologic personages of the Hopi 
pantheon or some otherwise important priestly functionary, wearing the 
charactistic head-dress of the ceremony in which the plaque was to be 
used. The work is executed in wicker, stained in such bright tints as 
were considered appropriate to the various features of the costume. 
Referring in detail to the shape and arrangement of the parts of the 
figure, it is apparent that many of the remarkable features are due to 
constructive peculiarities. The round face, for example, does not refer 
to the sun or the moon, but results from the concentric weaving. The 
oblique eyes have no reference to a Mongolian origin, as they only 
follow the direction of the ray upon which they are woven, and the 
head-dress does not refer to the rainbow or the aurora because it is 
arched, but is arched because the construction forced it into the shape. 
The proportion of the figure is not so very bad because the^ Hopi 
artist did not know better, but because the surface of Hie tray did not 
afford room to project the body and limbs. 

In the attempt to reproduce bird or other forms of basketry, strange 
and marvelous results are obtained— strange in their appearance, mar- 
vellous in that any artist, however crude, could see in those results any 
resemblance to the object she desired to portray. Yet it is in this way 
complex and singular designs of direct symbolic and ideographic 
meaning have arisen. Professor Holmes illustrates this with the con- 
ventional pattern of a Hopi plaque or tray, Fig. 166. He says : 

"We have difficulty in recognizing the bird at all, although the 
conception is identical' with the preceding. The positions of the head 
the legs and the expended wings and tail correspond as closely as pos- 
sible, but delineation is hampered by technique. The peculiar construc- 
tion barely permits the presentation of a recognizable life form, and per- 
mits it in a particular way, which will be understood by a comparison 
with the treatment of the human figure in Fig. 165. In that case the in- 
terlaced combination gives relievo results, characterized by wide radiat- 
ing ribs and narrow, inconspicuous, concentric lines, which cross the 
ribs in long steps. The power of expression lies almost wholly with 
the concentric series, and detail must in a great measure follow the con- 
centric lines. In the present case (Fig. 166) this is reversed and lines 
employed in expressing forms are radiate. 

"The precise effect of this difference of construction upon a partic- 
ular feature may be shown by the introduction of another illustration. 
In Fig. 167 we have a bird woven in a basket of the interlaced style. 
We see with what ease the long 3harp bill and the slender tongue 
(shown by a red filament between the two dark mandibles) are expres- 
sed. In the other case the construction is such that the bill, if extended 
in the normal direction, is broad and square at the end, and the tongue, 
instead of lving between the mandibles, must run across the bill, total- 



142 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




PIG. 166. FIGURE OF A BIRD EXECUTED IN COILED HOPI TRAY, 
TEXTILE DELINEATION. 




FIG. 107. FIGURE OF A BIRD WOVEN IN INTERLACED WICKER 
AT ONE SIDE OF THE CENTER. 



BASKET FORMS AND DESIGNS. 



143 



ly at variance with the truth ; in this case the tongue is so represented, 
the light vertical band seen in the cut being a yellow stripe. It will be 
seen that the two representations are very unlike each other, not 
because of difference in the conception and not wholly on account of 
the style of weaving, but rather because the artist chose to extend one 
across the whole surface of the utensil and to confine the other to one 
side of the center. 

"It is clear, therefore, from the preceding observations that the con- 
vention of woven life forms varies with the kind of weaving, with the 
shape of the object, with the position upon the object, and with the 
shape of the space occupied, as well as with the inherited style of treat- 




FIG. 167a.— TOKUT WOMAN CARRYING A LOAD OF FRUIT. 

ment and with the capacity of the artist concerned. These varied forces 
and influences unite in the metamorphosis of all the incoming elements 
of textile embellishment." 

As a fitting conclusion to this chapter I commend to my readers the 
following pregnant utterance : 

"The first woman making a change in any natural object for the 
gratification which it afforded her is the starting point of three evolu- 
tions : that of art itself, whether textile, plastic, or musical ; of herself 
in the practice of it, growing out of a mere imitator to be a creator : 
of the universal or public appreciation of art, of what might be called the 
racial or the tribal imagination." — Mason. 



144 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 168. TULE RESERVATION WEAVER USING ACORN SIFTER. 
Copyright by George Wharton James. 




FIG. 169. GRANARIES OP SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INDIANS. 



SOME USES OF INDIAN BASKETS. 



145 



CHAPTER X. 

SOME USES OF INDIAN BASKETS. 

Being the chief carrying utensil of the Amerind, the basket, neces- 
sarily, has assumed many and varied forms to correspond with the 
many and varied uses for which it was desired. Hence a multiplicity 
of forms and uses exist. Among the tribes of Southern California there 
are bowls, saucers, and flat plaques. Then there are dainty shapes 




From The traveler, San ±*'rancisco. 

FIG. 170. CAHUILLA, SABOBA, ETC., BASKETS IN THE COLLECTION OF 
GEORGE WHARTON JAMES. 

where the sides narrow toward the top and make a graceful form — an 
enclosed bowl shape, so common with all California tribes. There is 
even variety in this "enclosed bowl" shape. Some are made flat at the 
bottom and then narrow towards the top, with almost vertical sloping 
sides ; others are shaped with an almost flat bottom, the sides rounding 
out and then narrowing towards the top. This gives the iatter the shape 
of a pumpkin with the top cut off. There are ovals almost flat and also 
with the sides shaped in the two styles of the circular bowls just de- 
scribed. 



146 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



Another common form is the milk pan, a most convenient and use- 
ful shape. Still another is that of the inverted sugar-cone. This is 
used by many tribes as a hat, over which the band of the "reda" or 
carrying net, is placed. 

A small bowl-shaped basket, without a bottom, is also placed 
on the top of their "Ka-wa-wohl" (see Fig. 26) — a granite grinding 
stone or mortar — thus preventing the seeds, grain or acorns from escap- 
ing while being ground or pounded. The basket is fastened to the 
granite by a layer of pinion gum, which sticks the two almost as per- 
fectly as if they had grown together. 

In addition to these : ''There are the prettily woven nest for the 
pappoose ; the large plaque-shaped basket on which the Indians gamble 
with dice made of walnut-shells, halved, filled with brea (tar) into which 




PIG. 171. PRIMITIVE FISH WEIR, MADE OF BASKETRY. 



wampum is pressed ; the queer conical basket in which burdens are 
borne on the back ; the bottle-necked basket, beloved of connois- 
seurs ; baskets that serve as wardrobes ; "pitched" baskets in which 
water is carried ; deep bowl-shaped baskets, in which water is heated 
for cooking by the throwing in of hot stones ; grain sifters, tobacco 
pouches and many others." 

Grace Ellery Channing thus sums up some of the shapes : "Great 
bell-shaped black and white ones ; tall, delicate, vase-like shapes ; odd 
ones like hour-glasses broken abruptly ; some small and dainty like a 
lady's bonbonnierre ; others flat and like tiny saucers for sweet-breathed 
violets." 

The cradle has its own peculiar shape, and the harvesting wand is 
unlike anything else the basket makers have produced. The water 



SOME USES OP INDIAN BASKETS. 



147 



bottles of the Desert Indians have their distinctive shape", and the trin- 
ket baskets of the Yokut and Poma are entirely different from the yucca 
floor or sleeping mats of the Pueblos. The kathak of the Havasupai 
is an improvement upon the wood basket of the Poma, and the ex- 
quisite shaped bottle basket of the so-called Mission Indian is a marvel- 
ous advance upon the crude willow work of the Hopi. 

And all these forms have their motif in the uses to which design or 
accident led them. 

Fig. 171 is a representation, from Hariot, of a fish-weir made of 
crude basketry and used in prehistoric and later times in Virginia. 
Slender poles set in the shallow water were held in place by wattling 
or interlacing of pliable parts. 

Teit says the Thompson Indians of British Columbia use their bas- 
kets for storage, carrying and other useful purposes. "Large oblong 
baskets with lids are used for storing food and clothing. Smaller 



~ 










m 


1 

1 








l|j| 




1 




»jp t^bIIIwI 












KH& •.Willi! 








i- * ; i*.i_' 




m.". -..^JK-fc 1 *^ 









FIG. 172. CONICAL, SHAPED BASKET OP THOMPSON INDIANS. 



ones of the same kind serve, for holding sewing materials and trinkets. 
Their lids slide up and down on a string, which at the same time serves 
as a handle. Recently the lids have been hinged to the baskets. The 
most common: kind of basket is the conical shape shown in Fig. 172, 
and is used for carrying. Still another kind which is rounded, or, as the 
Indian says, nut-shaped, was formerly used for holding water. Round, 
open baskets served as kettles, the food being boiled by throwing hot 
stones into it. Such food is generally served in the basket in which it 
is cooked, and is either supped out of the basket or poured into small 
bark cups. Still another kind of basket has a flat back, which is made 
to hang against the post or wall. In shape it is similar to the fish bas- 
ket used by anglers. Such baskets are used for holding tobacco and 
pipes, a hole in the center of the lid allowing the pipe-stem to protrude. 
At one time they were much used for holding bait and fishing tackle, 
for which reason thev were called 'used for bait.' Some Indians 



148 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 173. POMA WITH RUDE WOOD BASKET. 



SOME USES OF INDIAN BASKETS. I A9 

belonging to the Lytton band used the same kind of baskets for saddle- 
bags." 

"Large open baskets made of cedar twigs, of the same shape as 
those used by the Lower Lillooet and the Coast tribes, were also made 
by the Lower Thompson Indians. They were used for carrying fish. 
Very few of them are used at the present day." They are of coarse 
weave somewhat similar to the crude carrying basket shown in Fig. 

173. 

It was natural that as soon as basketry became a general art, 
cradles for the carrying of their babies should be made by the early 
basket makers. These are of rude willow work. The child is strapped 
to the main portion of the carrying cradle, and a piece of calico or 
blanket is thrown over the semi-circular head piece, to protect the child 
from the fierce ravs of the sun. Fig. 174 is one of these cradles., made 




FIG. 174. ZUNI TOY CRADLE AND DOLL. 

by a Zuni mother for her child to play with, and a rude, wooden doll may 
be seen within, strapped exactly as is a child in the real cradle 

In her own poetic fashion Mrs. Carr thus wrote of these baby 
cradles : "Alone in the forest, or beside some rippling stream, the In- 
dian mother received into her bosom the little brown creature who 
made her slavery endurable. Its basket nest, cunningly wrought after 
the fashion of a butterfly's cradle was fastened to a small frame of 
wicker-work. (Fig. 16.) ' Taught by the oriole, she lined the nest with 
down of milk-weed and soft fibres ; but prouder or less wary than the 
bird, she decorated it outwardly with bright feathers and strings of tiny 
shells. When she travelled the precious basket was strapped to her 
back, and she never parted with it until the baby died, the empty bas- 
ket being then hung above its grave. When at home the baby basket 
was usually fastened to the nearest tree, where, with never a cry, the 
little bead eyes followed the moving clouds and fluttering leaves into 
the land of dreams, while the mother moulded her acorn bread in a bas- 
ket tray, or cooked her dinner in a deep, round basket into which 
heated stones were thrown to serve the purpose of fuel." 

The Modok women make a very pretty baby basket of fine willow 
work, cylinder shaped, with one half of it cut away, except a few 
inches at the ends. It is intended to be set up against a tree or carried 
on the back, hence the infant is lashed perpendicularly in it, with its 



*5C 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




;•-:,;-■ —:' , ; .^.. ; \; ; >^. 



Q 

3 
o 

Pi u 

5 1-4 

2 i» 

§Ph 

S° 
pn £ 




SOME USES OP INDIAN BASKETS. 



151 



feet standing out free at one end and the other end covering its head like 
a small parasol. In one, this canopy is supported by small standards 
spirally wrapped with strips of gay-colored calico, with looped and 
scalloped hangings between. The little fellow is wrapped all around 
like a mummy, with nothing visible but his head, and some times even 
that is bandaged back tight so that he may sleep standing. From the 
manner in which the tender skull is thus bandaged back, it occasion- 
ally results that it grows backward and upward at an angle of about 
forty-five degrees. 

The painstaking which the Modok squaw expends on her baby bas- 
ket is an index to her maternal love. On the other hand, squaws of 




PIGS. 177, 178, 179. PIGS. 180, 181. 

HUPA INDIAN CRADLE BASKET. PYRAMID LAKE UTE CRADLE. 

other tribes often set their babies in deep conical baskets, leaving them 
loose and liable to fall out. If such a squaw makes a baby basket it 
is totally devoid of ornament, and one tribe, the Miwok, contemptu- 
ously call it the "dogs' nest." It is among Indians like these that we 
hear of infanticides. 

Figs. 177, 178 and 179 show a cradle basket and methods followed 
in weaving, of the Hupas of North-Western California. A slipper- 
shaped open-work basket of osier warp, and twined weaving consti- 
tutes the body of the cradle. It is woven as follows : Commencing 
at the upper end, the small ends of the twigs are held in place one- 
eighth inch apart by three rows of twined weaving followed by a row 
in which an extra strengthening twig is whipped or sewed in place. At 



152 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



intervals of two and a half to three inches rows of twined basketry, 
every alternate series having one of the strengthening- twigs, increasing 
in thickness downward. The twigs constituting the true bottom of the 
so-called slipper continue to the end of the square toe and are fastened 
off, while those that form the sides are ingeniously bent to form the 
vamp of the slipper. This part of the frame is held together by rows of 
twined weaving boustrophedon. When two rows of this kind of twin- 
ing lie quite close, it has the appearance of four ply plaiting, and has 
been taken for such by the superficial observer. The binding around 





FIG. 



182. HOPI WICKER CRADLE 
WITH AWNING. 



FIGS. 183, 184. HOPI WICKER CRADLE 
WITH AWNI NG. 



the opening of the cradle is formed by a bundle of twigs seized with 
a strip of tough root. The awning is made of open wicker and twined 
basketry bound with colored grass. 

In the United States National Museum there is a cradle for a new 
born babe from the McCloud River Indians, of California, belonging 
to the basket tray type. It is shaped very much like a large grain scoop, 
or the lower half of a moccasin, and made of twigs, in twined weaving. 
There are double rows of twining two inches, or such a matter, apart, 
and nearly all of them are boustrophedon, which gives the appearance 
of four ply braid. 

Figs. i8oand 181 show a Ute cradle from Pyramid Lake, Nevada, 
with twined weaving, and demonstrates the modifying influences of 
the nearby California peoples. 



SOME USES OP INDIAN BASKETS. 



153 



Of the cradle baskets of the Paiutis found on the Northern "rim" of 
the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, Major J. W. Powell writes 
as follows: "Mothers carry their babes curiously in baskets. They 
make a wicker board, by plaiting willows, and sew a buckskin cloth 
to either edge, and this is fulled in the middle, so as to form a sack, 
closed at the bottom. At the top, they make a wicker shade, like 'my 
grandmother's sun-bonnet,' and, wrapping the little one in a wild-cat 
robe, place it in the basket, and this they carry on their backs, strapped 
over their forehead, and the little brown midgets are ever peering over 
their mother's shoulders. In camp, they stand the basket against the 
trunk of a tree, or hang it to a limb." 




FIGS. 185, 186, 1S7. SIAMESE WICKER 
CARRYING BASKETS, BORNE IN 
PAIRS WITH SHOULDER POLE. 



FIGS. 1SS, 1S9. CARRYING BASKET 
OF ARIKARA (CADDOAN) INDIANS. 



Fig. 182 is a Hopi wicker cradle made at Oraibi. The important 
elements it displays are the floor and the awning. The floor is of the 
ox-bow type, having the bow at the foot and the loose ends projecting 
upward as in the Yokaia and other California frames. This cradle 
frame is covered with wicker of unbarked twigs, four rows on the floor 
and four on the awning. The warp of the floor is formed of series hav- 
ing two twigs each. There is a great variety in the delicacy, the number 
of warp strands, and the minor details in the Hopi cradle floors. In- 
deed, while they are all alike in general marks, there are no two alike 
in respect to patterns. 

The awning is still more varied. Fundamentally it is a band of 



154 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



wicker basketry longer than the cradle is wide, its ends securely fast- 
ened to the frame sides by lashings of yucca fibre or string. Here and 
there stitches are omitted so as to effect an open work ornamentation. 
An additional strip frequently passes at right angles from the apex of 
the awning at the upper edge to the floor of the frame at its upper end, 
as shown in the diminutive Fig. 184. 

Fig. 183 is a cruder and simpler form made by the same people. 
Both styles are in use at the present time, but Fig. 182 is the type of 
those most general. 

The use of baskets for carrying heavy loads was a natural outcome 
of their earliest development. However the first basket was made, it 
would readily be suggested to the most immature and sluggish of minds 




FIGS. 190, 191, 192. CHOCTAW CARRYING 
BASKET AND VARIATIONS IN WEAVE. 



FIGS. 193, 194, 195. 
CONICAL CARRYING BASKET W r ITH 
RODS AND PLAITED HEAD BAND 



that a number of small objects could be confined in a large basket and 
thus carried to and fro with ease. Its use for this purpose is world-wide. 
Fig. 185 shows a wicker carrying basket, used in the oriental kingdom 
of Siam. It consists of a pole and two baskets. Each end of the pole 
pierces a basket from side to side, holes having been provided for this 
purpose. The material of this structure is split rattan done in wicker 
work. Cords are provided for packing the load and blocks of wood are 
attached to the bottom of each basket to protect the weaving. Figs. 
186 and 187, at the bottom of the larger engraving, show how f1, e 
bearer carries the two baskets, and also the simple weave of the wicker 
work. 



SOME USES OF INDIAN BASKETS. 



155 



Of a style somewhat similiar in shape and general construction to 
carrying baskets of the Hopi and Zunis, though of much finer work- 
manship is the old carrying basket of the Arikaras, (Fig. 188). These 
Indians live in Dakota and are of the Panian or Caddoan stock. The 
basket is quadrilateral, widest on the top and longer than wide. Four 
bent poles constitute the frame, each one forming the basis of a side 
or end. The end ones, much like ox-yoke bows, project below the 
others to form a rest for the basket. At the top the ends of the poles are 
held in place by means of a loop. The weaving is diagonal in narrow 
strips of birch and other tough bark, varying in color, and the method 
of producing the wavy design is revealed in Fig. 189. 

Fig. 190 is a form of carrying basket quite common among the 
Choctaw Indians of Louisiania. It is a hamper holding a bushel or 





FIG. 199. 
Forehead Pad Worn Dy 
the Hupa (Athapascan) 
Indians of California. 



.FIGS. 198, 197. 
McCEOUD CONICAL BURDEN BASKET. 



more, wider at top than at bottom. It is made of the common cane, 
split and woven by diagonal weaving, as shown in Figs. 191 and 192, 
the universal method among the Southern tribes of the United States 
upon all baskets whatever. The head band of leather is attached to the 
sides of the basket. 

Fig. 193 is a conical carrying basket used by the Clallam Indians at 
Pyramid Lake, Nevada. It shows how the savage inventor converted 
the soft wallet of the north into the hard cone of the south. The web of 
the basket is from rushes united by twine weaving, by braiding, and by 
the plaiting of a single filament, as shown in Figs. 194 and 195. This 
soft, open net-work is converted into a light but strong cone by the 
insertion of a hoop into the top and the fixing of six vertical rods at the 



i56 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



hoop at equal distances, uniting their ends at the bottom of the cone, 
and sewing them to the texture of the wallet inside. 

Fig. 196 is a burden basket used by the McCloud River Indians of 
Shasta Co., California. In the Clallam basket just noted, the head 
band encircles the cone about the middle, raising the load high on the 
back, after the manner of the Oriental water carriers. 

The California woman has abundance of rhus, hazel, willow, pine 
root, and other rigid material and may decorate the surface with differ- 
ent fern stems, straw, and dyed splint. So she makes her baskets in 
twined weaving, having rigid switches or small stems for her warp. 
But in this Central California region there is a device of strengthening 
the texture not sufficiently explained in the drawing. It is, in fact, 
the union of what has been called the twined stitch, shown in Fig. 197, 
with the bird-cage stitch. 




FIG. 19S. POMA MAN CARRYING 
WOOD IN CONICAL BASKET. 



PIGS. 200, 201, 202. PAIUTI SEED 
BASKET AND GATHERING WAND. 



There are three elements: 1. The fundamental or vertical warp 
of twigs ; 2. Across this at right angles a horizontal subsidiary warp 
of twig carried around in the process of weaving, and, 3, a web or weft 
of twined weaving uniting the two. Dr. Hudson, whose great know- 
ledge has often been drawn on in these pages, calls attention to the 
fact that all the northern stitches culminate in the Sacramento Valley 
and parts adjacent, and that the Yokaian stock are very adept at this 
composite style of texture. The top of this basket is strengthened by a 
hoop, to which the carrying band is attached. The bottom is strength- 
ened by close weaving. 



SOME USES OP INDIAN BASKETS. 



157 



The Poma Indians use a conical basket for carrying, held on the 
back in a sling (Fig. 198), the head band of which passes over the car- 
rier's brow. Dr. Hudson once saw an old woman carry three bushels 
of potatoes in this manner through rain and mud to her home two miles 
distant. Greater loads are not unusual to the men, and as a consequent 
result of such customary labor the Poma Indian is abnormally devel- 
oped in the dorsal and the anterior cervical muscles, besides having a 
chest magnificent in proportions. This applies also to the Cahuilla, 
the Havasupai, Paiuti and other Indians, who, like the Poma are ac- 
customed to carry large burdens on the back with the carrying band 
over the forehead. 

Fig. 199 is an elaborately constructed head band worn by the Natano 
band of Hupa Indians, Athapascan stock, living on the reservation of 
the same name (spelled Hoopah, however) in Northern California. It 
consists of a loosely woven, visor-like pad to fit on the forehead, and is 




PIG. 203. 
Painti Water Bottle 
and Pood Basket. 




PIG. 204. 




PIGS. 207, 208. APACHE ORNAMENTED CARRYING 
BASKET. 



held in place by a rope made of the warp of the pad, sewed with twine 
made from the native hemp. This apparatus is first placed on the head, 
and then the head band of the load or of the tracking line is worn over 
it. It must be remembered that the Hupas are the kinfolks of the 
Carrier Indians of Canada and Alaska. 

Figs. 200, 201, 202, are a Paiuti seed basket and gathering wand. 
The Paiutis are part of the Great Shoshonean family which occupies 
the territory from the northern border of Mexico to Costa Rica. This, 
and all similar baskets of the Paiutis are made of split osiers, 
rhus stems, and the scions of other plants not identified worked into 



158 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



twined weaving, Fig. 201, leaving a very rough surface on account of 
the harshness of the material. Once in a while a narrow band of black 
varies the monotony. But generally the carrying baskets have a uni- 
form hue and texture. 

In the days before the advent of the white man the Paiutis and 
many other kindred peoples were gleaners of all sorts of grass seeds ; 
the women went out with these baskets, stood them on the point behind 
a bunch of goose foot or other plant, with the fan or wand, Fig. 202, 
knocked the seeds into the cone until it was full, hung the load on their 
backs by means of the headband, and carried it home. The contents 
were winnowed, ground, and cooked by the same industrious women. 




FIG. 205. CARRYING NET MADE OP 
AGAVE FIBER, USED BY THE 

TEMBCULA IND.'ANS OF 
CALIFORNIA. 



FIG: 206. CARRYING NET OR REDA 
USED BY THE MISSION INDIANS 
OF CALIFORNIA. 



Even to this day here and there, in isolated regions, one may find the 
aboriginal women thus collecting seeds. In the mountain valleys near 
Mount San Jacinto, and on the plateaux surrounding Havasu (Cataract 
Canyon) where dwell the Havasupais I have often seen this gathering 
of wild seeds. 

Mr. F. V. Coville thus describes the same process : "The Panamint 
woman, of Death Valley, California, of Shoshonean stock, in harvesting 
the sand-grass seed (Oryzopsis membranacea) carries in one hand a 
small funnel-shaped basket and in the other a paddle made of wicker 



SOME USES OF INDIAN BASKETS. 



159 



work, resembling a tennis racket. With this she beats the grass 
panicles over the rim of the basket, causing the seeds to fall inside. 
When the basket becomes filled she takes it on her back, holding it in 
place with her two hands brought over her shoulders, or by means of 
a soft band of buckskin across her forehead." 

And he thus describes the gathering of the pine nuts : 
"In early autumn the women beat the cones of the pine (Pinus 
monophylla) from the trees, gathered them in baskets, and spread 
them out to dry. As soon as the cones had cracked, the primitive 




FIGS. 209, 210. HOPI OR ZUNI GATHERING FIGS. 211, 212. BASKET FOR CARRYING 
CRATE OR CARRYING BASKET. CACTUS (PRICKLY PEARS) USED BY 

THE DIEGUENOS (YUMAN) INDIANS OF 
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

harvester beat out the nuts, raked off the cones, and gathered her 
crop, which she carried on her back to a dry place among the rocks, 
where she made a cache for her spoils. When she was ready to serve 
them she put them into a shallow basket with some coals, and shook 
the mass around until the nuts were roasted. Thus prepared, she had 
her lord and her little family either shell and munch them without 
further preparation, or she ground them in a wooden mortar with 
a stone pestle, to be eaten dry or made into soup. Every other edible 
seed this practical botanist gathered, and roasted in the same way." 

Fig. 203 is of a basket bottle made by Painti Indians, who occupy 
the western edge of Nevada, near to the Eastern foot hills of the Sierra 
Nevada. Fig. 204 is of a basket bowl made by the same people. 
Though the former are intended to be covered with pinion gum to 



i6o 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



make them waterproof the weavers seem to find delight in working 
into them various striking and attractive designs, this one having three 
distinct circles of the conventionalized lightning. 

The upper design on Fig. 204 is somewhat unique. It represents 
the wavy line of mountains and valleys, common with many weavers, 
but on the summits of the mountains are rain clouds, and reaching 
down beyond into the valleys are water-courses terminating in lakes. 

Figs. 205 and 206 are of redas, or carrying nets, of the Mission 
Indians of California. The latter is marked Temecula, who are Sho- 
shonean, and the former is of the Cahuilla people who are of Apache 
stock. Each of these is a strip of open netting with fixed meshes, 




FIGS. 213, 214. CARRYING BASKET, WRAP- 
PED WEAVING, USED BY THE MOHAVE 
INDIANS OP ARIZONA. 



FIG. 217. NAVAHO TUSJEH 

OR WATER BOTTLE MADE 

BY THE PAIUTIS. 



gathered up at the ends into an eyelet or loop like a hammock, and 
provided with a carrying rope of the same kind. The nets are of bast 
fibre, probably Apocynum. The knots are sometimes the standard 
mesh knot, "bowline on a bight," in a nautical phrase, and sometimes 
square. It is this reda that suggested the net pattern on the rigid 
baskets woven by the Mission Indians, illustrations of which are given 
elsewhere. 

The Apaches of Arizona make a modified conical basket, hand- 
somely woven and ornamented of which Fig. 207 is a fair example. 
The material and stitch are precisely those of the Utes, but there are 
three noticeable features. The basket is oblong, like a northern pack ; 
the surface is decorated by plain colored and checkered bands, and 
hanging from the top and the bottom are fringes of buckskin, at the 



SOME USES OF INDIAM BASKETS. 



161 



ends of which are the false hoofs of deer and bits of tin rolled up. The 
small square below, Fig. 208, shows how the variations of stitch produce 
ornamentation effect. 

Fig. 209 is a specimen of crude Hopi or Zuni work and is built upon 
corner bows and warp of three sticks together ; the filling is in wicker 
and the ends are fastened off very neatly by tucking them in, as is 
shown by Fig. 210. 

Fig. 211 is a basket used for carrying cactus fruit and other coarse 
substances, and is made by the Dieguenos, Mission Indians, of the 
villages in San Diego County. As will be seen, it is in twined weaving 
of the rudest sort, a globose wallet, strikingly similar in shape to the 
great pottery ollas made and used by the neighboring tribes. The 
noteworthy character about this basket is the occurrence of twined 
weaving (which is enlarged in Fig. 212) so far south. On the testimony 
of the basket collections in the National Museum and elsewhere there 
does not exist a tribe south of this line that practices it. 




FIG. 215. 
CONGO CARRYING BASKET. 



FIG. 216. 
ZUNI BASKET WATER BOTTLE: 



Fig. 213 is regarded by Professor O. T. Mason as one of the most 
interesting specimens of basketry in the world. It is the carrying frame 
and net of the Mohave Indians, of the Yuman stock, dwelling about 
the mouth of the Colorado River in Arizona. They live largely upon 
the mesquite bean, which they gather, pod and all, and grind for bread. 
Two poles eight feet long bent in the form of an ox-bow and crossing 
each other at right angles form the ground work. These are held in 
place by lashing at the bottom and by a hoop at the top. Four or five 
strong twines of agave fibre pass from the hoop above to the bottom 
of the framework between each pair of uprights. These and the up- 
rights constitute the warp. The weft is a new type of Indian textile on 
the Pacific Coast called "wrapped" weaving, and which is fully illus- 
trated in Fig. 214. A single twine is coiled round and round the frame, 
making meshes into the warp half an inch wide. Every time this weft 
passes the warp strings or poles, it is simply wrapped once around. 
The roughness of the agave fibre holds the warp from slipping and : 



1 62 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



preserves a tolerably uniform mesh. Foster in his "Prehistoric Races" 
describes the finding of cloth in a mound in Butler County, Ohio, and 
figures a specimen in which the twines are wrapped in the same manner. 
The head band is a rag tied to two of the upright sticks. Somewhat 
similar in weave and material to the rude Hopi work above described 
is Fig. 215 which is a carrying basket used on the French Congo. In 
this specimen the common wicker work is used ; that is, a rigid warp 
and a flexible filling. 

The kathak, or carrying basket of the Havasupais is well shown in 
the engraving, Fig. 1. This kathak is woven in the same style as the 
water bottles of the Havasupais, and from the horse hair loops a broad 
carrying band of strong raw hide is brought across the forehead. This 
method of carrying is common with all the Indian tribes of the south- 
west. It will be noticed that there are two loops or "lugs." The carry- 




— ,— -rrnfniiUU Mill 

PIG. 218. 
HAVASUPAI BOILING BASKET. 




PIGS. 219, 220, 221. 

MANUFACTURE OF SPIRALLY 

COILED WEAVES. 



ing band goes from the one on the left around the head to the one on the 
right, and thus the kathak is held steadily and kept from swinging to 
and fro as would be the case if but one lug were used. 

Most of the Arizona and New Mexico tribes, having to travel over 
long stretches of almost waterless desert, use water bottles made of 
basketry. These are manufactured by the Havasupais, Zunis, and the 
Paiutis of Nevada and Utah. Those of which Fig. 216 is a type are 
generally made at Zuni. One of the most valued water bottles of my 
collection is a very old one, made and purchased at Zuni. 

Fig. 217 is a water bottle basket, originally labeled by Dr. James 
Stevens in the National Museum as a Walpi basket. But though pur- 
chased at the Hopi village of Walpi this style of basket bottle is made 
by the Paiutis and by them traded to the Hopi, the Navahoes, and 
through the latter, to the Apaches. This is the most common form of 
water bottle found in Arizona. The weave is coarse but firm and 
strong, and being heavily coated inside and out with pinion gum it is 
both water tight and durable. I have a large number of these Paiuti 



SOME USES OP INDIAN BASKETS. 



163 



water bottles in my collection, of all sizes, from a pint to three gallons. 
What a series of problems confronted the prehistoric woman, when 
she first began to learn the properties of fire. The roasting of flesh was 
comparatively easy, but how was she to make water hot, cook the 
fluid foods she had already learned to make. She invented the boiling 




... ,1 " fig. 222. 

Method of Making Havasupai Water Bottles. 

basket, into which, after pouring her liquid, uncooked food, she 
dropped heated rocks, and thus conveyed fire into her pot, instead of 
her pot to the fire. 

Some of the Havasupais still use the boiling basket, and only as 
late as 1899 I had the pleasure of eating delicious green corn mush 






FIGS. 223-224. 
PUEBLO INDIAN CARRYING MATS. 



FIG. 225. 
PUEBLO INDIAN USING 
CARRYING MAT. 



cooked in this ancient fashion. One of these baskets is shown in Fig. 
218. It is bottle shaped, and on its neck two loops are woven, from 
which depends a rawhide strap handle. 

Cushing thus describes the method followed in weaving these bas- 
kets, and it is a clear description of most coiled weave. "In the manu- 



1 64 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




SOME USES OF INDIAN BASKETS. 



I65 



facture of the boiling baskets, which are good examples of the henx 
or spirallv coiled type of basket, the beginning was made at the center 
of the bottom. A small wisp of fine flexible grass stems or osiers 
softened in water was first spirally wrapped a little at one end with a 
flat limber splint of tough wood, usually willow (see Fig. 219) This 
wrapped portion was then wound upon itself, the outer coil thus formed 
(Fi<^ 220) being firmly fastened as it progressed to the one already made 
by passing the splint wrapping of the wisp each time it was wound 
around the latter through some strands of the contiguous inner coil, 
with the aid of a bodkin. (Fig. 221.) The bottom was rounded up- 
ward and the sides were made by coiling the wisp higher and higher, 
first outward, to produce the bulge of the vessel, then inward, to form 
the tapering upper part and neck, into which the two little twigs or 
splint-loops were firmly woven." See (a) Fig. 218. 




FIG. 227. SAUCER-SHAPED BASKET (UNDOUBTEDLY HAVASUPAI). 

Fig 222 shows the style of weave followed by the Havasupais in 
making their basket water bottles. The warp is of unpeeled and tinspht 
willows of a thickness to correspond to the size the bottle is intended to 
be. The woof filaments are sometimes split and sometimes not, and 
either peeled or unpeeled. As soon as the bottle nears completion in 
weaving, it is covered with a mixture of red ochre and some slightly 
oleagineous substance, just as painters "prime" a building they are 
going to paint, with a coating of a mixture of oil, ochre and white lead. 
Then it is covered inside and out with pinion gum and thus becomes 
strong, durable and perfectly water tight. Such bottles last for many 
years and will endure all kinds of hardships. 

An annular mat, used for balancing water ollas and other heavy 
and convex bottomed vessels on the head, is woven by all the Pueblo 
peoples from the coarse fibres of the yucca (yucca baccata). The fibres 
are split and plaited as in making a whip. The mats assume different 



1 66 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



shapes, the two most comon being shown in Figs. 223 and 224. Just 
as the Irish milkmaid catches up a kerchief or cloth and by a quirk 
or two converts it into a ring or crown which she places on her head 
before setting thereon the brimming pail, so the Pueblo Indian throws 
upon her head one of these mats before lifting thereupon the heavy 
food-bowl or heavier water plla. The fame ring serves also in keeping 
the jar upright on the floor of her room. Coronado (1540) wrote to 
the Viceroy in Mexico: "I send your lordship two rolles which the 
women in these parts are woont to weare on their heads when they 
fetch water from their wells, as we used to do in Spain ; and one of 
these Indian women with one of these rolles on her head will carry a 
pitcher of water, without touching the same, up a lather." The method 
of using them is illustrated in Fig. 225. 




FIG. 22R. HANDSOMELY ORNAMENTED APACHE BASKET BOWL. 



The flat saucer shaped baskets of the Pimas, Maricopas, Apaches,, 
Havasupais and many others show undoubtedly one of the first of 
all basketry forms. As the artistic faculty increased in power, prac- 
tice brought increased dexterity and skill, and some of the baskets made 
before the decadence of the art, (which began with the advent of the 
Spaniards) are exquisitely beautiful in the perfection of their weave 
and truly artistic in their designs. 

Figs. 227 and 228 might have been made by any of the people above 
named, although from the finishing border I incline to the belief that 
227 is not an Apache, as suggested by Dr. Stevenson, but either a 
Paiuti or a Havasupai. The Apache and Pima baskets of finest weave, 
made to-day, are generally finished off with a fine overwrapping 
stitch as shown in 228. The plaited stitch as I have before described 



SOME USES OF INDIAN BASKETS. 



107 



of 227 is common to Navahoes, Havasupais and Paiutis. In an ex- 
amination of scores of Apache baskets, including the fine collection at 
the Museum of Natural History, and those in the National Museum 
I have found but one that is not finished off by the overlapping simple 
coil stitch. And that one though labeled an Apache and obtained 
on the Apache reservation is unquestionably a Havasupai brought 
there by trading or capture. 

Murdoch found among the Point Barrow Eskimo small work-baskets 
(aguma, ama, ipiaru, as they call them), of which Figs. 229 and 230 
serve as types. The neck of Fig. 229 is of tanned sealskin, 2.y 2 
inches long, and has one vertical seam, to the middle of which is sewed 
the middle of a piece of fine seal thong a foot long, which serves to tie 
up the mouth. The basket appears to be made of fine twigs or roots 





FIGS. 229, 230. BASKETS OF ATHAPASCAN 
FOUND AT POINT BARROW. 



STOCK 



of the willow, with the bark removed, and is made by winding an 
osier spirally into the shape of the basket, and wrapping a narrow splint 
spirally around the two adjacent parts of this, each turn of the splint 
being separated from the next by a turn of the succeeding tier. 
j Fig. 230 was obtained from Sidaru, a small Eskimo village near Point 
Belcher. The weave of both is similar to that of the Apaches, and, as 
the owner of Fig. 229 said it came from the "great river" of the 
South, Murdoch concludes that they, were made by the Indians of the 
region between the Koynkuk and Silawik Rivers, who are of the Tinne 
or Athapascan family, to Avhich, also, the Apaches belong. They un- 
doubtedly reached Point Barrow through channels of trade or barter. 



'i 68 .] 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




VARIOUS INDIAN BASKETS. 



169 



CHAPTER XI. 

VARIOUS INDIAN BASKETS. 

A strictly rigid adherence to the various heads of the preceding 
chapters has been impossible, as the subjects are so inseparably con- 
nected. But as far as possible I have sought to elucidate each branch 
of the subject. The following pages illustrate various types and weaves 
of basket. They will help the collector and student to a fuller know- 
ledge of the work of the different peoples. Many of the descriptions 
are given verbatim from Professor O. T. Mason's report. 




FIG. 232. KLAMATH TWINED BASKET. 



Fig. 232 is a twined or plaited flexible basket of the Klamaths, made 
of rushes and straw. The management of the material is precisely as in 
wallets made by the Eskimo. The three elevated bands upon the out- 
side are formed by rows of twine set on externally. The border in this 
case is formed by binding down the warp straws and sewing them fast 
with traders' twine. By twining a dark and a light colored straw, two 
dark or two light straws, and by varying the number of these mono- 
chrome or dichrome twines, very pleasing effects in endless variety 
are produced. 



170 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



Fig. 233 is one square inch of Fig. 232, showing the appearance of 
the body weaving above and of the ornamental twining below. 

Fig. 234 is one of the coiled and whipped baskets of the Hoochnoms, 
and was collected at Eel River, California, in 1876. It is made of thin 
strips peeled from one of the roots found in the region. The bottom is 
started upon a small, flat Turk's-head knot or splint ^ of an inch in 
diameter, and continued in a plane outward 4 inches in diameter before 
any ornament is attempted. The coils are Vs inch in cross-section and 
there are twenty stitches to the inch. There are three pairs of the orna- 
ment on the exterior all alike. The harmony of geometric design pro- 
duced by inverting the triangles on the alternate sides is much more 
expressive in the specimen where the brown-black ornament is in con- 
trast with the dark wood color of the body. 




FIG. 233. 
ONE SQUARE INCH OP PIG. 232. 



FIG. 235. 
ONE SQUARE INCH OP FIG. 234. 



Fig. 235 is one square inch of Fig. 234, showing the method of 
coiling with various colored splints. The weave of this basket and its 
general appearance is much like Fig. 56, fine, smooth, even and beauti- 
ful. 

Fig. 236 is the inside of a Yokut bowl, one of the finest baskets in 
existence. It is a truncated cone, sixteen and a half inches wide and 
seven and a half inches deep. It was collected by the eminent ethnolog- 
ist, Stephen Powers, in 1875, in California, and now holds an honored 
place in the U. S. National Museum. The bottom is plain and flat, 
bounded by a black line. The body color is that of pine root long ex- 
posed ; the ornaments are in black, straw color, and brown. To under- 
stand this complex figure we must begin at the bottom, where five 
barred parallelograms surround the black ring, with center of brown, 
and generally four smaller bars of white and black alternating. By a 
series of steps or gradines this rectangular ornament is carried up to 
the dark line just below the rim. The spaces in the body color, at first 
plain, are occupied afterwards by open crosses, and finally by human 
figures. These human figures are excellent illustrations of that con- 
straining and restraining power of material and environment so ably 
discussed by Professor Holmes in an earlier chapter. There are 
eight coils and eighteen stitches to the inch in this work. 



VARIOUS INDIAN BASKETS. 



171 




FIG. 234. HOOCHNOM COILED BASKET. 
COLLECTED AT EEL RIVER, CALIFORNIA. 




FIG. 236. YOKUT COILED BASKET BOWL. 



J 7 2 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

Fig. 237 is a coiled basket bowl of the Cahuillas. The coil is a bundle 
of yucca or other fibre, and the sewing is done with splints of reed 
cane, chestnut and black. The lovely cloudy effects produced by the 
ingenious use of splints of different natural colors resemble those on the 
Hopi sacred meal trays. The fastening off is simple coil sewing. The 
ornamentation is a series of crosses arranged vertically and four series 
of rhomboids inclosing triangles. 

Fig 238 is one inch of Fig. 237, showing the multiple coil and the 
method of stitching. 

Fig- 2 39 presents an inside view of Fig. 237. The black line at the 
bottom, nearly continuous, incloses a circle in uniform unvarnished 
color. All the body color above this line is of a shining yellow, varying 
in shade. The disposition of the ornament is better shown in this 
illustration than the preceding one. 




FIG. 23S. ONE SQUARE INCH OF FIG. 237. 

Fig 240 is a similarly made basket of the Cahuillas, in which the 
shading of the body material is, in places, very dark. The methods of 
making these colored splints is fully explained in the chapter on color. 
The zig-zag ornaments, an imitative representation of arrow points, 
are very effective. 

Fig. 241 is a jar-shaped coiled basket from the Zuni Indians of New 
Mexico. This is a very beautiful specimen of coiled ware for this 
region, in shape, regularity of stitch, and ornamentation in black. It 
is a common saying among true experts that the pottery-making In- 
dians are not good basket-makers. There is no doubt that this state- 
ments is broadly true. Professor Mason suggests that this basket 
"looks as though it might have come from California." It may have 
come from the Apaches, for in shape, ornamentation, and, especially in 
the use of the strip of fibre for ''chinking" as seen in Fig. 242, it re- 
minds one of the work of these accomplished basket-makers. 

Fig. 242 is a square inch of Fig. 241, showing the use of the chink- 
ing fibre and the alternation of white and black stitches. 

Fig. 243 is a coiled basket bowl of the Pimas, built on yucca fibre 
and sewed with rhus or willow. The ornamentation is in red paint and 
splints dyed black. The border is back and forward sewing to imitate 
a braid. Its depth is 3 inches. 



VARIOUS INDIAN BASKETS. 



173 




FIG. 237. CAHUILLA BASKET BOWL. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 




FIG. 241. COILED BASKET JAR SECURED FROM THE ZUNIS, 
NEW MEXICO. 



174 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 239. INSIDE VIEW OF FIG. 237. 




FIG. 240. A CAHULLA BASKET BOWL. 
A REPRESENTATION OF ARROW POINTS IN THE DESIGN 



VARIOUS INDIAN BASKETS. 



175 



Fi- ->44 is a coiled basket bowl of the Pimas, made up- on a founda- 
tion o? yucca, the sewing done with splints of willow or pine, llie 
ornamentation is rude, but exceedingly interesting. On showing it to 
a Pima Shaman he affirmed that it was made by a woman who had 
visited a family of the Antelope fraternity in one of the Hopi towns, 
and that this was her attempt to reproduce the male and female light- 
nine symbols of that fraternity. The male symbols have reached and 
penetrated the earth, represented by the interior dark circle, and have 
therebv brought the fire of the sun down to the haunts of men. 

Fi<^ oac is a coiled Pima basket bowl, similar in structure to big. 
244 The grecque ornament is worked in with tolerable symmetry. 
The border has the braided appearance before mentioned and quite 
commonly met with on Pima baskets,- given by forward and backward 
sewing along the border with a single splint. In this instance the stitch 
passes backward three stitches of the sewing each time. This is ingen- 
ious and effective work. 




FIG. 242. 



ONE SQUARE INCH 
OP PIG. 241. 



PIG. 245. 



PIMA BASKET WITH 
GREEK DESIGN. 



Fig. 246 is a coiled bowl of the Apaches, inside view, made upon a 
single twig. The apparently unsystematic ornament is indeed very 
regular, hour lines of black sewing of different lengths proceed from 
the black ring of the center. From the end of all these lines sewing- 
is carried to the left in regular curves. Then the four radiating lines 
are repeated, and the curved lines, until the border is reached. This 
is a distinct variant of the Swastika, about which Dr. Wilson has writ- 
ten so learnedly, exhaustively and interestingly. Yet to the Pima 
woman it was merely a conventionalized representation of a lake with 
water flowing from it in different directions. 

Fig. 247 is an inside view of one of the coiled osier basket bowls of 
the Garotero Apaches. In every respect of weave and style it resembles 
Fig. 246. The inclosed triangles alternating with urn patterns consti- 
tute the ornamentation. These are conventionalized representations of 
stone battle hammers and arrow points. 

Fig. 248 is a small coiled basket bowl of the Paiutis of Southern 
Utah and Nevada, made by coiling a splint and thin strip of yucca, 



176 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 214. PIMA BASKET, WITH MALE 
AND FEMALE LIGHTNING SYMBOLS. 




FIG. 243. PIMA COILED BASKET BOWL. 



VARIOUS INDIAN BASKETS. 



177 




FIG. 246. 

APACHE COILED BASKET 
BOWL. 



PIG. 247. 

BASKET BOWL OF THE 
GAROTERO APACHES 



FIG. 248. 

PAIUTI COILED MUSH 
BASKET. 



i 7 8 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



bast, or osier, and whipping them with split osier. The sewing passes 
over the two elements of the coil in progress and through the upper 
element of the coil below, looping always under the subjacent stitches. 
Ornamentation is produced by working into the fabric triangles with 
strips of martynia or dyed splints. The work is very regular and the 
texture water-tight. The design represents butterflies. 

Fig. 249 is a similarly woven basket. It is founded upon a wooden 
plug in the center and coiled by means of an osier and a strip of 
fibre. Its depth is 2]/ 2 inches. The work is neatly done, and there is 
some resemblance in its ornamentation to Fig. 248, yet the steps repre- 
sent rain clouds. 

These baskets (Figs. 248 and 249) are made in the same style and 
by the same people — the Paiutis — as the so-called wedding baskets of 
the Navahoes, or medicine baskets of the Apaches, the ornamentation 
being the only difference. 





FIG. 251. ONE SQUARE 
INCH OF FIG. 250. 



FIG. 249. PAIUTI BASKET. 

Fig. 250 is a twined basket hat of the Utes or Paiutis of Southern 
Utah, used by the women either as a hat or a basket. The California 
women make hats of a somewhat similar pattern, but much finer. The 
warp twigs converge at the bottom and additional ones are added as 
the texture widens. The weft splints are carried around in pairs and 
twined so as to inclose a pair of vertical twigs, producing a twilled 
effect something like that of the softer ware of the Haidas and Clallams. 
The border of this twined basket is very ingeniously made. First, the 
projecting warp sticks were bent down and whipped with splints to 
form the body of the rim. Then with two splints the weaver sewed 
along the upper margin, catching these splints alternately into the warp 
straws below, giving the work the appearance of a button hole stitch. 
The ornamentation is produced by means of dyed twigs either alone 
or combined with those of natural color. 

The texture of this hat is coarse and rigid, not because the Utes can- 
not obtain better material, as has been suggested elsewhere, for, now 
and again, they make baskets as fine as the ordinary ware of the 



VARIOUS INDIAN BASKETS. 1 79 

Yokuts and Pomas. But they are lazy and indifferent generally, and 
a coarse hat is as good for their purpose as a finer one. 

Fig. 251 is one square inch of Fig. 250, showing the method of weav- 
ing and administering the colored splints. 

Fig. 252 is a twined roasting tray of the Paiutis. The warp is a lot 
of osiers spread out like a fan. The weaving begins at the bottom by 
short curves, and progresses by ever widening curves to the outer 
margin. The rim is made by a double row of the coiled and whipped 
work. The whole surface is very rough, as in all common Paiuti work, 
by reason of not twisting the strands when making the twine. There 
is little or no attempt at ornamentation on this class of objects. 

Fig. 253 is a gathering and carrying basket of the same people. 
It is woven precisely as the hat, Fig. 250, and the roasting tray, Fig. 
252. The splints are very fine, but their refractory nature makes the 
ware coarse. Ornamentation is produced by external twining and 
by geometric patterns in dyed splints. One Paiuti woman told me that 
this design was made long, long ago by her mother, as she sat near 




FIG. 250. UTE BASKET HAT. 



where her husband was making arrow points, and that the triangles 
are simply these points arranged together in rows of three. Another 
woman said the design was of the mescal plant from which they obtain 
one of their principal articles of diet. 

Fig. 254 is a harvesting wand of the Paiutis, made of twigs split or 
whole, bound with yucca fibre. It is a very coarse piece of work, and 
yet a necessary and 'useful article. The seeds are struck with this wand 
into a carrying basket, or Kathak, Fig. 253, and then taken home to 
be roasted, ground or stored away for winter use. 

Fig. 255 is of varied work of the Makah Indians, of the Nutka 
stock. While this weave is a very simple and primitive one, it is capable 
of most delicate treatment, and produces exquisite results. It may 
be called the "fish-trap" style, as it is undoubtedly the lineal descend- 
ant of the rude wicker fish-trap. 

Figs. 256-7-8 are of the bottle covered with basket work shown in 
Fig. 255. The ground work is of bast and the ornamentation oired, 
yellow and black straws sewed on singly after the Makah fashion. 



i8o 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 252. TWINED ROASTING TRAY OF THE PAIUT IS. 




FIG. 253. PAIUTI CARRYING BASKET. 



VARIOUS INDIAN BASKETS. 



181 



Great numbers of these covered bottles and other fanciful forms are 
prepared for sale by the Makahs as well as by the Haidas, whose work 
is similar in external appearance, but not in the method of weaving. 

Fig. 257 shows the bottom of Fig. 256, with the radiated warp and 
the alternation of twined weft with the ordinary in and out weaving. 

Fig. 258 is a portion of the side of the bottle, showing the lattice 
arrangement of the warp, and the twined weft, producing irregular 




PIG. 254. HARVESTING WAND OP PAIUTIS. 

hexagons. This method of producing polygonal meshes, excepting the 
twined weft, is pursued in great variety and with excellent effect by the 
Japanese and other oriental peoples. 

Fig. 259 is the celebrated "bird-cage" weave of the Makahs. It is a 
very simple stitch, but exceedingly effective and pretty. It is also used 
largely by the Clallam Indians of the Salish stock in Washington. 




FIG. 255. MAKAH BASKETRY. 



1 82 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 






FIGS. 256-7-S. BASKETRY AROUND BOTTLE. 



MAKAH WEAVE. 



VARIOUS INDIAN BASKETS. 



i*3 



Fig. 260 is a carrying basket of this latter people. The framework is 
a rectangle of large twigs from the corners of which depend four twigs, 
joining as shown in the figure. To this framework are lashed smaller 
rods running horizontally and vertically, making a lattice-work with 
any desirable size of meshes. Finally, spruce-root splints are coiled 
around the crossings of these lattice-rods. In this particular example 
the coiling is not continuously around the basket, but on each side 
separately in boustrophedon, but in the pretty Makah baskets, woven in 
this style, the coiled thread continues around without break from the 
beginning to the end of the work. The handles for the attachment of the 
head-strap are loops of spruce-root cord set on at the corners. 

Fig. 261 is one square inch of Fig. 260 and shows the exact disposi- 
tion of the weave. 

Fig. 262 is a fine specimen from the Makahs. It includes the 
three distinct types, viz. : the plain checker weaving of the Bilhoolas, 
as shown in Fig. 263, the twined pattern so fully described 




FIG. 



259. CLALLAM BIRD CAGE 
WEAVE. 



FIG. 261. 



ONE SQUARE INCH OF 
FIG. 260. 



elsewhere, and also pictured in Fig. 263, and lastly, the bird-cage pat- 
tern of the Makahs and Clallams, illustrated in Fig. 249. The ornament- 
ation on this class of baskets, as on the commercial baskets of the 
Haidas, consists of geometric patterns in black, yellow, drab, reds, 
blues, etc., colors, many of which are obtained from traders. The 
straws are dyed and the pattern is alike on both sides. 

Interesting as a rude suggestion of this bird-cage basketry pattern 
is Fig. 264 of a rude carrying or packing basket from Angola, Africa. 
The bottom is made in form of a mat or head pad. The warp is a series 
of rods, and the weft is in twined weaving, common in Africa, in East- 
ern Asia, and in the Pacific States of North America, north of the 
Pueblo country. 

Fig. 265 is a rain hat of twined basketry in spruce-root, from the 
Haida Indians, reduced to less than one-eighth linear. This is the 
upper view and shows the method of ornamentation in red and black 
paint. The device is an epitomized form of a bird, the first step from 
pictures toward graphic signs. Omitting the red cross on top, the beak, 
jaws and nostrils are shown above ; the eyes at the sides near the top, 



1 84 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



Tffi 



ips«»Pift 



WnjFTT^ 






BIHSfc 



plijfliMc^S^fei in/ 11 



ffeefil 



PIG. 260. CLALLAM CARRYING BASKET. 




PIG. 262. MAKAH TRINKET BASKET OP PINE WEAVE. 



VARIOUS INDIAN BASKETS. 



185 



and just behind them the symbol for ears. The wings, feet, and tail, 
inclosing a human face, are shown on the margin. The H-ida, as well 
as other coast Indians from Cape Flattery to Mount Saint Elias, cover 
everything of use with totemic devices in painting and carving. 





FIG. 263. 



FIG. 264. 



CARRYING CRATE FROM 
ANGOLA, AFRICA. 



Fig. 266 shows the conical shape of Fig. 265. On the inside a 
cylindrical band of spruce-root is Stitched on so as to make the hat fit 
the wearer's head. A string passed under the chin is frequently added. 

Fig. 267 shows the top of this basket hat before painting, with 
radiating warp, twined weft, and an external twine on its outer bound- 
arv. 





FIG. 265. 



HIGHLY ORNAMENTED 
HAIDA HAT. 



FIG. 268. BASKET. LSED IN DICE GAMES. 



In the dice games of the Arapaho and oilier tribes, a basket is an 
essential implement. The players toss up the dice from the basket, 
letting them drop again into it, and score points according to the way 



i85 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



the dice turn up in the basket. The first throw by each player is made 
from the hand instead of from the basket. One hundred points usually 
count a game, and stakes are wagered on the result as in almost every 
other Indian contest of skill or chance. Figs. 268-269 are baskets thus 
used in dice games. The dice are many and various. Among this tribe 
they are bone or plum stones. Similar baskets and dice are used by 
all tribes throughout the West and on the Pacific coast. 





FIG. 266. 



Pig. 267. Haida Hat. Tod 
View Before Painting. 



Figs. 104 and 231 are of a large Pauma basket, used as a granary. 
These immense baskets have long been in use, but few are now to be 
found. Outside of several Cahuilla homes and at a few other places 
in Southern California may be seen rude baskets used as acorn store- 
houses. These are made, however, by twining bundles of willows, 
in the rudest fashion, and not by any processes of basket weaving, (see 
Fig. 169). 

In Southern California the Indians used to make a basket 
church. For purposes of worship a circular enclosure was made, 
tules or willows being woven in basket form somewhat similar to the 
fences or enclosures found at the village of Saboba to-day. There is 
still one of these rude basketry churches in use at the Indian village 
of Santa Ysabel in Southern California. 



SYMBOLISM OF INDIAN BASKETRY. l °7 

CHAPTER XII. 
SYMBOLISM OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 

The recent researches of Fewkes and others have done much to 
further our knowledge of the symbolism of aboriginal art. Holmes 
and Cushing long ago demonstrated that there was in this field an 
almost unlimited fund of unexplored treasure. Little by little we are 
beginning to reap the harvest of fascinating lore and myth and legend 
connected with the designs on pottery, basketry, shields, and masks, 
etc. 

As yet basketry symbolism has not had its share of study. In fact, 
as far as I know, the only articles published upon the subject that have 
any value are four, one by Dr. Livingstone Farrand, of Columbia Uni- 
versity, New York, on the "Basketry Designs of the Safish Indians ;" 
one by Roland B. Dixon in the American Anthropologist on "The 
Basketry Designs of the Maidu Indians," and two by myself, one in the 
Traveler of San Francisco, Cal., on "Indian Basketry and its Symbol- 
ism," and the other in The Evening Lamp, of Chicago, entitled "Poems 
in Baskets." 

Hence it will be seen that hitherto there have been but few attempts 
made to penetrate the reserve of the Indian as to the meaning of her 
basketry designs. It is not easy work, and there are but tew fitted to do 
it. One may live with an Indian basket maker for years and never 
even know that she attaches any meaning to the designs she incorpor- 
ates into her work. 

The meaning and symbolism of the designs on baskets is certainly 
one of the most fascinating and important branches of the study, 
although there are those who emphatically deny that symbolism has any 
place in the basketry ornamentation of the Amerind. But these persons 
certainly know little of either the Indian or his methods of work. To 
all who know him the Indian is remarkable for his poetic conception 
and equally so for his intense reticence in regard to his inner thoughts. 
Imagery, symbolism and the picturing of what he sees are habits of 
his daily life. 

That casual observers often arrive at erroneous conclusions as to 
this and kindred matters all ethnologists and archaeologists well know. 
For instance : Not long ago I was visiting a tribe of Indians and 
called upon a lady physician, who, formerly in the Indian service, had 
lived with this tribe in the capacities of both teacher and physician. 
When I asked her if she knew anything of the symbolism of their bas- 
ketry, she said: "No!" and assured me that they attached no meaning, 
and had no thoughts connected with the designs they incorporated 
into their work. At the conclusion of my all too brief researches, when 
I read over to her what I had learned, she confessed that my discover- 
ies were a. revelation to her and that never once had a single Indian 
spoken to her upon the subject, though she was familar with their 
language, was most kindly received by them and always welcomed to 
their homes. 



1 88 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




PIG. 270. HEART SHAPED, BOTTLE-NECK BASKET 
OP THE YOKUTS. McLEOD COLLECTION. 




FIG. 271. THREE BASKETS DEPICTING HUMAN 
FIGURES. PLIMPTON COLLECTION. 



SYMBOLISM OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 



189 



On this subject Charles Milton Buchanan writes : "The pattern is 
run at the fancy of the maker. Sometimes the basket maker will possess 
her own peculiar designs and patterns, which may be recognized any- 
where by her tribesmen familiar with her work, and they serve the 
purpose of a hall mark, revealing at once the identity of the maker. 
Many of their patterns involve the Greek fret, pure and simple, as well 
as countless variations worked upon this self-same theme. Then again 
the barbaric basket maker will attempt to mimic nature with cherry 
trees, ferns, star-fish, fir-trees, and a thousand and one objects common 
to their every day life." 

The Rev. W." C. Curtis thus writes me upon this subject, referring 
particularly to the work of the Klickitats and Wascos : "The ornament- 
ation for the most part — as in all the North-west baskets — is conven- 
tional; though I have Klickitat baskets with men and horses pictured 
upon them, also other baskets which depart from the characteristic de- 
sign in such a way as to make them unique. In the Wascos, besides the 
conventional designs, (which possibly originated in the desire to imitate 
waves, mountains and trees on mountains, caves, etc.,) representa- 
tions of fish, birds, dogs, foxes (wolves or coyotes), deer, frogs, men 
and women are prominent. Many of their patterns are purely arbit- 
rary, I think, from the beginning, and true knowledge is not served 
;by trying to read into them meaning which the makers never thought 
of." 

The only reliable method of determining the meaning of a basketry 
design is to obtain a clear explanation from its maker. And this must 
be done cautiously. With her habitual reserve and fear of being 
laughed at by the whites, the Indian woman is exceedingly suscept- 
ible to suggestion. If you ask her whether her design does not mean 
this or that, you may with certainty rely upon what the answer will be 
before it is given. She will respond with a grunt or word of affirmation, 
and, at the same time, laugh within herself at the folly of the questioner. 
For, of course, she is "smart" enough to know that if you make the 
suggestion that the design means so and so, she will be safe if she 
accept your suggestion. 

If the basket is an old one and the maker be dead, one must be con- 
tent to receive such explanation as the older members of the tribe can 
give as to the interpretation of its design. Yet it must not be over- 
looked that the observations of experienced ethnologists insist that 
these explanations cannot be relied upon. On this subject Farrand 
says : "It should be noted that most of the designs show variants, and 
also that what were originally representations of very dissimilar objects 
have converged in their evolution until the same figure does duty for 
both, — conditions which result in uncertainty and difference of opinion 
among native connoisseurs, and consequently, in the conclusions of 
the ethnologist. Nevertheless, the great majority of the patterns are 
well recognized under specific names. There are, of course, geometric 
designs which, so far as all obtainable information goes, are used 
simply for the decorative value of their lines and angles; but such 
patterns are usually of great age, and it is quite possible that their 
representative meaning is lost in antiquity or has only baffled the 
diligence of the inquirer. The well-known conservatism of the Indian 
insures the relative permanence of a design, even when its meaning 
is not recognized." 



190 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 





SYMBOLISM OF INDIAN BASKETRY. I 9 I 

He then goes on to state that a Quinaielt basket bore a certain de- 
sign, a favorite pattern in the tribe, but not the slightest clue to its 
meaning could be obtained. Its name signifies "standing in the corners 
of the house," and refers to the fact that in the old days large baskets 
with this design stood in the corners for the reception of household 
odds and ends. All informants agreed as to its great antiquity, as well 
as to the fact that it had doubtless had a meaning at one time, but no 
amount of inquiry could discover it. 

It is not necessary that, in this chapter, I should discuss the growth 
of the artistic instinct in the Indian, or attempt to show when and how 
the ideographic art began. That it now actually exists and is exerted 
in the ornamentation of baskets, there can be no question, but I must 
not, for one moment, be supposed to affirm that all ornamentation is 
distinctly and positively ideographic. In his admirable way, Dr. 
Hudson, when asked as to where the designs of the Indian come from, 
responded : "Your answer is found in the dentated oak leaf, the 
angular twig, the curling waterfall, the serrations of mountain tops, 
and the fins of fish put into conventional form. No artist wants better 
models than nature's own. Precision in repetition of pattern is a 
mystery we cannot solve." 

(a) SYMBOLISM IN BASKETRY FORMS. 

Not only is there a distinct symbolism in the designs woven into 
the basket, but in some cases the basket itself is a symbol. 

Among the Zuni, certain clay water bottles are made in imitation 
of the human mammae. The pottery maker clearly recognizes a 
symbolism in these imitative designs. She speaks of water as the 
milk of adults. The earth is the mother of men, and with water nour- 
ishes her children as the mother nourishes her young with the milk 
from her own breasts, dishing says he is inclined to the belief that 
the aperture of this flat-backed, breast-shaped bottle was originally 
at the nipple, but, being found to leak when furnished with the aperture 
so low, this was closed. Then, in his inimitable way, the great ethnol- 
ogist writes : "A surviving superstition inclines me to this view. When 
a Zuni woman has completed the me-he-ton nearly to the apex, by the 
coiling process, and before she has inserted the nozzle, she prepares 
a little wedge of clay, and, as she closes the apex with it she turns her 
eyes away. If you ask her why she does this, she will tell you that it 
is a-ka-ta-ni (fearful) to look at the vessel while closing it at this point ; 
that is, if she look at it during this operation, she will be liable to become 
barren; or that, if children be born to her, they will die during infancy ; 
or that, she may be stricken with blindness ; or those who drink from 
the vessel will be afflicted with disease and wasting away ! My im- 
pression is that, reasoning from analogy (which with these people 
means actual relationship or connection), the Zuni woman supposes 
that by closing the apex of this artificial mamma she closes the exit- 
way for the 'source of life ;' further, that the woman who closes this 
exit-way knowingly (in her own sight, that is) voluntary closes the 
exit-way for the source of life in her own mammae; further still, that 
for this reason the privilege of bearing infants may be taken away from 
her, or at any rate (experience showing the fallacy of this philosophy) 
she deserves the loss of the sense (sight) whi>h enabled her to know- 
ingly close the exit-way of the source of life." 



192 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



pn ■ 




KS^I^s^i^f"* 


, 






IIF 

u 


. } 
■■H I 


lip 1, '^ 

4<» j<i " . 7 



■ '■■ 




SYMBOLISM OP INDIAN BASKETRY. ig2 

"The prevalence of the heart shape in the cane baskets of Louisiana 
is a charming example of Indian symbolism. In their ceremonials 
baskets were used to hold gifts, and their shape indicated the feeling 
from which the offering emanated. This is the Indian explanation of 
the meaning of the shape, but it is interesting to connect it with the 
realization of animal forms, so strongly marked in the art remains of 




FIG. 276. TYPICAL, BASKET DECORATION. 



/.y , ..vw^ 



PIG. 277. TYPICAL BASKET DECORATION. 



HiilH i ! miiiliiiliilliiilliHiiiiiii ' iiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiii ; iiif?»iifiii!i iiiittiiiiiiti HHiiiilf 
!is« i i ininiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiii iHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii miniiiiwwitgutr mm\ 
il > m i iiiiuiiiiNNiiUH mil i miiiiiiiuii ism in tin inimiitniiiigifi mi i m 
J I ; liitiiii i ' iiiaiiiatiiiiaia mmi mnmtiiM mm. 1^111111111111 ; inline «i 
1 Miiuiiini! i iiiHiiiiiiii imiitiisi I iiiiiiiiMH iiifiMMIiill iniiniii! asssilnsi 
luinmiiniuti f ■ 1 iiinii = iimiiiiiigiHUi iniiii - iiiiiuaigiiiiiiif. [miiir mgwiiniiiiwE'i 
uupiiiiisiiii it "■ = iiisiiisiiiniiiiiiiii " i-*« ■ -■ iiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiimi "in liiiiiitYiiigiiiiiaiij 
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iliiiiiiiiiifiaififiliB iiaiiiiiiniiiiiiiEiiiiiiifii iiiniiinumiii iiiiiigTa i e i^iiiiiiiiifiiiiiiiiiiTi 



in 111 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'fiHiiiiiiiiiniiin 

PIG. 278. TYPICAL BASKET DECORATION. 

the mound-builders of the middle Mississippi Valley, for it may be 
some lingering mark. of their influence. They represented living forms 
in a very wonderful way for savages, and though they left only art 
remains to tell their story, it is one of thrilling interest." — C. S. Coles. 
This recognition of a symbolism in the object itself is borne out 
by Teit in his valuable monograph on the Thompson Indians. He says 
that lances are often painted with the figure of a skelton. The sym- 



194 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

bolism as given by the Indians is obvious. Stone war axes represent 
woodpeckers, the point of the axe to be as powerful in piercing skulls 
as the beak of the woodpecker the trees. 

This symbolism is manifested in the yucca plaques made by the 
Hopi women of the middle mesa. In accordance with those unwritten 
laws which are the result of the superstitious fears of the Hopi, singular 
customs are observed in the "finishing off" of these yucca or amole 
made baskets and plaques. In those made by marriageable virgins 
the inner grass is allowed to "flow out," as it were, so that the baskets 
have an unfinished appearance as shown in the unfinished basket in the 
weaver's hands, Fig. 108. This is termed the "flowing gate." With 
married women, capable of bearing children, the ends of the grass are 
allowed to flow out, but they are cut off about an inch or so from the 
last stitch of the coil which confines them. This is called the "open 
gate." In the case of widows and married women, who, for any reason, 
are incapable of bearing children, the inner grass is "tapered down," 
and carefully wrapped over with the amole until it is covered and com- 
pletely finished off. This is called the "closed gate." 

It will be obvious that these different methods symbolize the phys- 
ical condition of the maker of the basket, but the reason for observing 
these singular customs may not be so obvious. Conversation with sev- 
eral intelligent and friendly Hopis has gradually made clear the thoughts 
and fears of this superstition. With all the Pueblo people it is a notice- 
able psychological fact that any fancied resemblance, connection or 
analogy is taken by them to denote actual relationship and connection. 
By a process of reasoning, which to us seems as peculiar as it is simple 
and logical to them, it follows that the virgin basket-maker who closes 
up the "gate" in finishing the basket renders herself incapable of bear- 
ing children. This would mean a life of loneliness and sorrow, for what 
man would marry a woman incapable of joying his heart with the 
presence of healthful children? Hence, to preclude the possibility of 
this dreaded fate, a Hopi virgin is most observant and scrupulously 
particular to avoid any conscious action, which, by any chance, could 
be interpreted by the "Powers Above" to denote her willingness to be 
childless. 

The married woman is blessed with children, consequently, while 
the gate is open, the ends of the grass may be shorter than in the former 
case, while the barren woman or widow is allowed to "close the gate," 
— complete the basket — as with her there is no hope of maternity. 

As far as my researches have gone these are the only clear instances 
I have found in which "form" is a symbol, but I am satisfied that fur- 
ther investigations will produce much interesting material in this branch 
of the subject. 

(b) DEVELOPMENT OP SYMBOLISM IN BASKET D ESIGNS. 

What were the inciting causes that led the aboriginal woman 
onwards and upwards from the lower plains of mere utility in her 
basketry to the hill sides of art, where form, color and pattern display 
conscious exercise of the art instinct, deliberate thought and plan? 

It is possible, as is later argued, that the first steps taken were 
accidental. In preparing the splints some may have been of a slightly 
different color from others. When worked into the fabric this difference 
would be noticed, and, either from curiosity or a desire to imitate, the 



SYMBOLISM OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 



195 



original effect produced would be duplicated. Once started, the 
variations produced by color led the weaver along many paths, all of 
them novel, interesting and pleasing. 

Another decisive step was taken when the primitive weaver con- 
sciously desired to produce beauty by uniformity of stitch. To pre- 
pare the splints so that they were all of exactly the same width, then 
to weave them according to perfect measurement — this was excellent 
art training for eye and hand. 

This step, combined with the presumed accidental discovery of color 
values, led to the most wonderful progress. In seeking to imitate the 
pleasing effects introduced by color the weaver found it necessary to 
make some kind of measurements. Her eye might generally be relied 
upon, but as pleasure in accuracy increased she must find some method 
of absolutely determining where her color work must come in, and 
where left out. This made of woman, first, a measurer, and then, a 
counter. Here was the dawn of mathematics to the aboriginal worker. 
She learned the value of distance, and the inerrancy of numbers. 




FIG. 279. 



FIG. 280. 



The monotony of regular stitches too, taught her further. Each 
stitch made of splints of uniform size occupies exactly the same area 
of space; five stitches, five times as much. With these facts clearly 
in mind she began to alternate her sets of stitches, then to increase or 
diminish them, and the discovery of geometric figures and designs was 
the result. Price the geometric door was opened there was no limit 
to the many and various excursions that could be made. Three white, 
four brown stitches, ad. lib., produced certain effects. Then on the 
next round the number was reversed; it was four white and tliree 
brown. On the following round five white, and two brown, and so on. 
And from these simple discoveries she gained pyramids, frets, zigzags, 
squares, triangles, tetragons, stars, polygons, lozenges, octagons, paral- 
lelograms, rectangles, and all the rest, together with their wonderful 
combinations and relationships. 

That dishing fully accepted this accidental discovery of geometrical 
design is clear. He says : "There can be no doubt that, these styles 
and ways of decoration were developed, along with the weaving of 
baskets, simply by elaborating on suggestions of the lines and figures 
unavoidably produced in wicker work of any kind when strands of 
different colors happened to be employed together." These remarks 
are illustrated by the diagrams, Figs. 276, 277, 278, which show typical 
basket decorations thus discovered. 

Accidents of color and design having thus (to change the figure) 
led her into pleasant meadows where scores of beautiful flowers of 



I96 INDIAN BASKETS. 

simple art awaited her plucking, the aboriginal woman soon began 
to exercise her own individuality in choosing and planting for herself. 

There were certain objects in nature which she wished to copy be- 
cause they reminded her of certain things ; others that were connected 
with religious worship. At first she imitated these as near as the 
limitations of her art would allow. Then, as years went on, her succes- 
sors imitated what she had made, and the design slowly grew away 
from the original and finally became conventionalized out of all recog- 
nition of the object which it was intended to represent. 

This was a distinct step forward. It was the birth of ideography or 
symbolism. Once get the imaginative brain at work, and where was 
the end? With the Indian there is no end. Her symbolism to-day is 
wonderful in its profound meaning. There are mythology, religion, wor- 
ship, poetry and history all woven with busy brain and tireless fingers 
into baskets which the unversed regard as mere examples of crude and 
savage workmanship. It is only the things that we love — simple stars 
though they may be, as Browning puts it — that open their hearts to us, 
so the learned and the wise have passed by these books of the aborig- 




FIG. 281. 



PIG. 2S2. 



inal woman and having eyes have seen not, ears have heard not, the 
sweet sights and sounds that were awaiting the simple and the loving. 

To the common people of the dark, middle ages, the cathedrals 
and public buildings were books in which they read many and wonder- 
ful things that only the wise of to-day can discern. 

What meant Victor Hugo, when he exclaimed "The book has 
killed the building?" He merely meant to express his belief in the 
fact that mankind having become accustomed to the easy reading 
of print, has forgotten the harder reading of stone — of gargoyle, spire, 
tower, buttress, sculptured figure and carved object. In those typeless, 
printless, bookless days man stood by the side of a cathedral and read 
therein and thereupon most of the useful lessons of life. The spires led 
his thoughts heavenward, the tower symbolized the church which was 
to connect earth with the heaven-pointing spires ; the buttresses spoke 
of the strength given to the church ; while the carved figures of angels 
saints, pilgrims, demons and devils taught him that while man was a 
pilgrim here below, devils and saints, demons and angels fought over, 
around and within him for mastery. Inside the building the dim light, 
filtering in through the gorgeous colored windows, taught him the rich 
beauty of the saintly li'e, though' the calm quietude of the place sug- 
gested that it was a life of restful gentleness ; ascending incense taught 
him how his fervent prayers should ever be thus subtlely arising from 
earth to the Throne of Grace, and the sweet songs of the choir and 



SYMBOLISM OF INDIAN BASKETRY. J 97 

melodies and harmonies of the organ bade him sing his songs of 
thankfulness to the divine and benencent Being who had given him 
life and health. Ihese and many other thoughts were inspired in the 
minds and hearts of the beholders by the great buildings of the book- 
less ages. 

Then, too, man had his poetry — the songs of the troubadours, the 
ballads of the Border, the Epics of Homer and Virgil — to quicken 
his intellect and stimulate his soul, and in later days the printed page 
of poem, song and ballad ; of stirring eloquence and vivid enthusiasm. 
He had and has the sculptured marble of great heroes and beautiful 
imaginations, and these are books to be seen and read of all men. 

But the Indian had not, nor has, any of these. Her only temples 
are the arched aisles of stately trees and those massive mountain and 
canyon walls built not by human hands ; the only sculptured forms she 
knows are the wild and irregular carvings of erosion and storm. 

Hence, to the woman, living largely in the seclusion of the camp ; 
condemned to be a stay-at-home from the earliest years of the race by 
the very exigences of the case, her basket-ware, and later, her pottery, 
became her chief art manifestations, her cathedral, her sculpture, her 
book, her picture. In them she wrote what civilized peoples transcribed 
into cathedral, book, picture, and he who would read Indian thought 
aright must learn to decipher the hieroglyphics of thought written on 
basketry, just as the antiquarian and archaeologist needed the Rossetta 
Stone to enable them to read the mysterious inscriptions of the Egyptian 
obelisks. 

But where is the Rossetta Stone of Indian Basketry? Fortunately 
the writers of these Indian hieroglyphics are not all dead. A few yet 
remain. Some are still writing, and from what they tell us we are 
enabled to penetrate some most interesting secrets. 

(c) IMITATION AND CONVENTIONALIZATION. 

It is impossible to discuss imitation apart from conventionalization. 
As I have just written, the attempt to imitate naturally produced a con- 
ventional design, often far away from the object imitated. Thus conven- 
tionalization might be said to be a necessary consequence of imitation. 
Yet, the first basketry design might have come purely by accident, as 
Gushing has shown in his "Zuni Culture Growth." The theory is 
based upon feasible linguistic argument. 

In making the stitches with strands of different shades, which, in 
the earlier days of manufacture, would happen to be used, quaint figures 
necessarily were produced on the surface of the basketry, by the ap- 
pearance and disappearance of the discolored splints. 

From the haphazard alternations of color doubtless came the first 
rude suggestions of design, dark and light regularly alternating in 
bands, and then appearing and disappearing as in Figs. 279 and 280, 
so that a lozenge shaped series of terraces was produced. 

On Zuni pottery these basketry patterns are reproduced as in Figs. 
281 and 282, and, that they are veritable basket designs is demonstrated 
by the name applied to them by the Zuni which is "double splint- 
stitch-form mark." 

From Fig. 284, which shows an unfinished wicker water bottle, it 
will be seen that the warp strands cross each other in a manner very 
suggestive to the pottery artist. Indeed, as Cushing states, the name 
given to this decoration, when seen on pottery, denotes its origin from 
basketry. 



198 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



Whether this theory of accidental origin of design be feasable or 
not, there is no doubt that the exercise of the IMITATIVE faculty 
was the first important step in the art evolution of the Amerind. 

*The Indian is essentially imitative. In the days of his dawning 
intelligence, living in free and unrestrained contact with nature, his 
perceptive faculties were aroused and highly developed by the very 
struggle for existence. He was compelled to watch the animals, in 
order that he might avoid those that were dangerous and catch those 
that were good for food ; to follow the flying birds that he might know 
when and where to trap them ; the fishes as they spawned and hatched ; 
the insects as they bored and burrowed ; the plants and trees as they 
grew and budded, blossomed and seeded. He became familiar, not 






Figs. 2S5-2S6. Design on Salish Basket, 
showing conventionalization. 



Pig. 2S4. Suggestion of design 
for pottery from basketry. 



only with such simple things as the movements of the polar constella- 
tions and the retrograde and forward motions of the planets, but also 
with the less known spiral movements of the whirlwind as they took 
up the sand of the desert ; and the zigzags of the lightning were burned 
into his consciousness and memory in the fierce storms that, again 
and again, in darkest night, swept over the exposed area in which he 
roamed. With the flying of the birds, the graceful movements of the 
snakes, the peculiar wrigglings of the insects, the tracks of insects, 
reptiles, birds and animals, whether upon the sand, the snow, the mud, 
or more solid earth he soon became familiar. The rise and fall of the 
mountains and valleys, the soaring spires and wide spreading branches 
of the trees, the shadows they cast, and the changes they underwent 
as the seasons progressed ; the scudding or anchored clouds in their 
infinitude of form and color, the graceful arch of the rainbow, the 
peculiar formation and dissipation of the fogs, the triumphant lancings 
of the night by the gorgeous fire weapons of the' morning sun, the 

* It will be noticed by the critical reader that I vary the sex of the pro- 
noun in writing of the art developement of the Amerind. This is not the 
result of carelessness, but of purpose. I do not wish any reader to assume that 
because I use only the feminine when 'speaking of the weaver, I think the male- 
Amerind had no art develocement. 



SYMBOLISM OP INDIAN BASKETRY. 

rLTLfTTLn 



199 



imiiTJin 



rETEizRjzr 



"p] ~p] "pH "pJ "pH 



FIG. 2S7. HARTT'S THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT OF FRET WORK. 




PIG. 289. SCROLLS ON PUEBLO INDIAN POTTERY. 




PIG 291 THE FRET OF POTTERY DECORATION, MIDWAY STEP 
BETWEEN THE FRET OF BASKETRY AND THE 
SCROLL OF POTTERY. 



200 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

stately retreat of the clay king as each day came to its close, all these 
and a thousand and one other things in nature, he soon learned to 
know, in his simple and primitive manner and, when the imitative 
faculty was once aroused, and the art faculty demanded expression, 
what more natural than that he should attempt, crudely at first, more 
perfectly later on, the reproduction of that which he was constantly 
^observing, and which was forcefully impressed upon his plastic mind. 

Grosse speaks enthusiastically of this faculty of observation of 
•nature and power of imitation possessed by the aborigine, and he com- 
mends the accuracy with which the pictorial representations are made. 
In course of time, however, this imitative faculty became perverted, 
owing to a mistaken and perhaps mercenary motive, that white men 
would prefer to buy basketry that contained designs imitated from 
something pertaining to themselves rather than the Indian. In Fig. 
274 examples are given of this vicious imitation. While in themselves 
an evidence of the imitative faculty, the baskets are to be condemned 
for the introduction of purely foreign and inappropriate decorative 
design. 

A design once made it would be comparatively easy to copy it. 
Yet, in copying, variations would necessarily occur, either by careless- 
ness or volition. And here is the next definite stage of conventional- 
ization. The copyist adds to, or takes from, according to her whim 
or fancy, and thus the design, still retaining its original significance as 
imitative, loses its purely imitative character, and becomes, by accre- 
tion or elimination, a new design. 

Anyone of my readers may easily test this unconscious modification 
of an imitated object. Mr. Henry Balfour in his work on "Evolution 
of Art" gives a simple, though perfect, illustration. He made a sketch 
of a snail crawling over a stick and gave it to a friend to copy. The 
copy he gave to a third, and so on to twelve persons in turn. The re- 
sult was a drawing of a bird perched on a limb. The designs of the 
Indian women on their basketry have undergone a similar transforma- 
tion or evolution. Dr. Farrand, of Columbia University, elsewhere 
often quoted, gave me a perfect illustration of this in a conventionalized 
figure he found on the basketry of the Thompson Indians. He saw 
the hour-glass object (Fig. 285) and when he asked what it represented 
was told that it was a bird. But he could see no likeness to a bird in 
this figure, until he was shown, on an older basket, the key to the 
highly conventionalized design. This was Fig. 286. Here the head and 
tail of the bird (although crudely drawn) are clearly discernible. By 
successive stages, deliberately or carelessly, the head and tail were 
dropped off, but the remaining portion of the figure still stood, a repre- 
sentation of the bird. 

A third stage in conventionalization is taken when the weaver 
volitionally makes changes, in obedience to the growing aesthetic desire 
within her and thus completely destroys the identity of the new with 
the old design. 

An illustration of this is found in the Tulare basket (so-called) shown 
in Fig. 275. Here, each alternate circle of the design is composed 
of St. Andrew's crosses. I have heard people sapiently discoursing on 
this cross as an evidence of the Christian influence to which the Indians 
have been subjected In this case the weaver to whom I showed the 
photograph, and who herself was weaving St. Andrew's crosses into 



201 

SYMBOLISM OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 

a basket she was then making, promptly replied to my question that it 
was "rattlesnake." By much questioning and quiet talk I learned the 
whole secret. If two joined rattlesnake diamonds are split in half a 
St Andrew's cross is the result. And though in its new form it bears 
no resemblance to the snake design, it is still called by that name, and 
it means exactly the same to her as if it were the original diamond 
design. For the original diamond-backed rattlesnake designs see 

Fies 28, 42, 48, &c. . , 

Last vear I purchased a beautiful small basket made by a girl 
of some eighteen years of age, on the Tule River reservation on which 
double diamonds were woven by making the lower borders of the upper 
row of diamonds form the upper borders of the lower row. This she 
said, was her method of representing the rattlesnake, thus affording 
another instance of mutability of design. 

From all that has been said, therefore, it will be apparent to the 
reader that the author believes that basketry designs, are, or may be, 
wonderfully diverse in their origin. Some of them are still purely 
imitative others are simple conventionalizations, while still others are 
complex' artistic conventionalizations, or conventional designs born oc 

the art instinct. 

Nor are these all. As will be shown in a later chapter there are 
designs that are purely ideographic, that were so contemplated when 
designed by their makers, and in which the poetry and imagination of 
the Indian are beautifully enshrined. 

(d) THE BIRTH AND DEVELOPMENT OP GBOMKTRICAL DESIGNS. 

Whence came all the many and diverse geometrical designs found 
upon Indian basketry? How did they originate? Where? When? by 
whom invented? Were they brought to this land from some far away 
foreign shore where art was in a highly developed state? Or, is there 
some motive power in the human mind, which, working simultaneously 
in many different regions, evolved the first design from which all others 
easily followed ? I have partially given answer to some of these ques- 
tionings but the subject is worthy of far more extended treatment than 
I am now able to give. Yet, it may be that a contribution to this long 
discussed subject from the standpoint of one of the earliest textile arts 
known to humanity may be useful in arriving at a satisfactory solution 
of the problem. 

In regard to the development of the Greek fret and the scroll in 
all their variations, Professor C. F. Hartt, in Popular Science Monthly, 
Vol. 6, p. 226, advances the theory that ornamental designs follow cer- 
tain weli-defined lines of development owing to the structure of the eye, 
which finds pleasure in the varying recurrence of these forms. He 
also argues that in the general course of nature decorative forms 
began with simple elements and developed by systematic methods to 
complex forms. Take for example the series of designs shown in 
Fig. 287. The meander a, made up of simple parts would, according to 
Mr. Hartt, by further elaboration under the supervision of the muscles 
of the eye! develop into b. This, in time, into c, and so on until the 
elegant anthemiom was achieved. The series shown in Fig. 288 would 
develop in a similar way, or otherwise would be produced by modifica- 
tion in free-hand copying of the rectilinear series. The processes here 



202 INDIAN BASKETRY. 



/WWW 

jiruuifuif 

72/2^/2/2/2/ 




FIG. 288. HARTT'S THEORY OP DEVELOPMENT OP 
SCROLL WORK. 




FIG. 290. The Curvilinear Scroll Modified by Basketry 
Becomes the Rectilinear Fret. 



SYMBOLISM OP INDIAN BASKETRY. 



203 



suggested, although to all appearances reasonable enough, should not 
be passed over without careful scrutiny. 

In such a theory Mr. Hartt utterly fails to take into_ account at its 
true value the imitative faculty in primitive peoples. This is constantly 
exercised ; always has been from the earliest dawning of art strivings, 
and is still, even in the present day. The scroll has a natural imitative 
origin. Gushing calls attention to a fact well known to all Indians of 
the South Western deserts. "Those who have visited the Southwest 
and ridden over the wide, barren plains, during late autumn or early 
spring, have been astonished to find traced on the sand by no visible 
agency, perfect concentric circles and scrolls or volutes yards long and 




mmm mmmumuum 

xmw \lmff jT" 1 "! law 
mmumm mmmi 



FIG. 292. 




FIGS. 293-294. FRET AND MODIFIED ZIG-ZAG FOUND ON 
BASKETRY FROM THE AMAZON. 



as regular as though drawn by a skilled artist. The circles are made 
by the wind driving partly broken weed-stalks around and around their 
places of attachment, until the fibres by which they are anchored sever 
and the stalks are blown away. The volutes are formed by the stem of 
red-top grass and of a round-topped variety of the "chenopodium," 
drifted onward by the whirlwind yet around and around their bushy 
adhesive tops. The Pueblo Indians observing these marks, especially 
that they are abundant after a wind storm, have wondered at their 
similarity to the painted scrolls on the pottery of their ancestors." 
Fig. 289. 



See 



204 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

As basketry was undoubtedly an earlier art than pottery, the artist 
who desired to imitate these strange desert markings, was compelled 
by the exigences of the case into the use of the fret. As Professor 
Holmes well says : "The tendency of nearly all woven fabrics is to 
encourage, even to compel, the use of straight lines in the decorative 
designs applied. Thus the attempt to use curved lines would lead to 
stepped or broken lines. The curvilinear scroll coming from some 
other art would be forced by the constructional character of the fabric 
into square form, and the rectilinear meander or fret would result, as 
shown in Fig. 290." 

The only criticism upon these words of Professor Holmes's that I 
would make is that instead of the scroll coming from some other art 
it was found by the Indian in nature, as Lieut. Cushing has suggested, 
and that in attempting to imitate it upon her basket, the Indian womar 
unconsciouslv designed the fret. 




FIG. 295. GEOMETRIC SPIRAL FORM ON APACHE 
BASKET 

Mr. Holmes calls attention, however, to a self-evident proposition in 
this discussion, viz. : that though the fret of basketry is a necessary 
result of attempting to compel the scroll into a woven form, the scroll 
may easily have been evolved from the fret. And Lieut. Cushing 
argues that the scroll of pottery is the natural evolution — using Fig. 
291, the fret of pottery decoration, as a step between — from the fret of 
basket decoration. 

As ideas began to attach to imitative and conventionalized orna- 
ments, the Indians themselves associated the marks on their baskets 
and pottery with the marks left on the desert, and, as they believe these 
latter "to be the tracks of the whirlwind which is a god of such dis- 
tinctive personality that the circling eagle is supposed to be related 



SYMBOLISM OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 2 °5 

to him," these frets and scrolls are introduced as propitiatory offer- 
ings. 

As recently as August of 1899 I found an example of this among 
the Havasupais in Cataract Canyon. I purchased a basket from one 
of my friends and after much persuading she told me that .the designs 
represented the whirlwinds. The general fret design suggests the 
plateaux and canyons and the inverted pyramids are the whirlwinds as 
they reach the edges of the plateaux and descend into the canyons. The 
center design is of a number of small whirlwinds uniting to form one 
great and powerful one — which brought disaster and death to early 
members of her family many years ago. See Fig. 292. 

That the fret is one of the most ancient of designs is evident from 
a study of its antiquity and universality. Figs. 293 and 294 are a fret 
and a modification zigzag found on baskets from the banks of the 
Amazon. 




Pig. 296. Geometric Spiral Form on 
Pottery, Showing Loss of Accuracy. 



As the aesthetic culture of the basket maker slowly evolved, the 
powers of imitation grew, and the spiral was reproduced even in 
basketry with an accuracy as wonderful as it is beautiful. In an Apache 
basket, Fig. 295, this perfect volute is shown, and in reference to Fig. 
296 Professor Holmes observes that when the same ornament was 
copied upon pottery a tendency is observed to depart from symmetry 
as well as consistency. It is well to note these observations as explain- 
ing many similar modifications and variations in design. He says : "It 
will be seen by reference to the design given in Fig. 296, taken from 
the upper surface of an ancient vase, that although the spirit of decora- 
tion is wonderfully well preserved the idea of the orgin of all the rays 
in the center of the vessel is not kept in view, and that by carelessness 
in the drawing two of the rays are crowded out and terminate against 
the side of a neighboring ray. In copying and recopying by free-hand 
methods, many curious modifications take place in these designs, as, 
for example, the unconformity which occurs in one place in the example 
given may occur at a number of places, and there will be a series of in- 



206 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

dependent sections, a small number only of the bands of devices re- 
maining true rays." 

These remarks are especially useful when taken in conjunction with 
what I have said on the subject of conventionalization of design by 
carelessness or volition. 

In determining the origin of geometric designs I am fully convinced 
that as far as their appearance on Indian baskets is concerned the 
exercise of the imitative faculty satisfactorily accounts for them all. 

A simple clasification of these designs would give four sources of 
origin, as follows : Animal, Vegetable, Natural and Artificial (or 
manufactured) objects. 

Before presenting examples of these varied designs, however, it is 
important that the student recognizes at its full value the thought of the 
next division of this subject. 

(e) DIVERSE MEANINGS OF DESIGNS. 

It must be borne in mind that the same design may, and often does, 
mean entirely different things to different weavers. For instance, the 
zigzag design seen in Figs. 31 and 36 are clearly conventionalized 
representations of the lightning. But when the same design appears 
in the basketry of the Pomas, Mr. Plimpton assures me that Dr. Hud- 
son insists it has no reference to lightning but is the conventional 
method followed by the Pomas of representing a flowing stream. 

When a horizontal series of these rather acute-angled zigzags are 
made they represent mountains and valleys to the Thompson and many 
other Indians, and a highly conventionalized variant is shown in the 
line of broken zigzags in the shape of steps, and of steps arranged in 
ascending terraces, (see Figs. 298-270, &c.) 

In the basket held in the hands of Pedro Lucero, Fig. 305, are a 
number of circles connected with lines. The explanation given of these 
is that they represent the villages of the Saboba people, connected by 
ties of blood and friendship. According to Teit the same sign used by 
the Thompson Indians represents two lakes connected by a. river. 

The cross, according to Teit, represents to the Thompson Indians 
the crossing of trails. Among the Yokuts it generally represents a 
battle, and among the Wallapais and Havasupais it is a phallic sign. 

On this subject Dr. Farrand writes of the Salish designs : "Snake 
designs are widely used, but in many cases are indistinguishable from 
other similar patterns, and exhibit the confusing process of convergent 
evolution. The typical snake or snake-track pattern among the Salish 
Indians generally, is a simple zigzag, vertically arranged, but this often 
represents lightning as well ; and, unless the artist himself is at hand 
to tell what he had in mind at the making, there is practically never 
unanimity of opinion among the authorities. Investigation of the 
significance of color has thus far borne little fruit in this region, though 
it is not impossible that it may have a determinant value in just such 
cases as this. The snake zigzag may also be placed horizontally, but 
in that event is often identical with the mountain pattern representing 
a mountain chain." 

The diamonds of Fig. 302, to the Quinaielts, represent roughly the 
shape of the flounder. This is a common and well recognized design 
of that tribe. Yet among the Cahuillas, Rosario Casero showed me the 



SYMBOLISM OP INDIAN BASKETRY. 



207 




FIG 297. BASKETS OP HIGHLY CONVENTIONALIZED DESIGNS 
IN PRIVATE COLLECTION OP W. D. CAMPBELL. 




PIG. 29S. BASKETS MADE BY SALISH STOCK INDIANS. 



208 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



same design and said it represented the leaves of the trees that grow by 
the side ot one of their springs. 

Among the designs of the Salish Stock (The Thompson Indians) 
is one exactly the counterpart of Fig. 292 (except for the inverted pyra- 
mid). This represents a snake, yet in the Havasupai design represented 
it means the plateaux and canyons of the region in which they live. The 
same design is seen around the top of the basket to the right in Fig. 




FIG. 299. SALISH BASKETRY. 

48. This is made by a Mono, and she herself explained that it was in 
imitation of the fences of the white man. 

(f) DESIGNS OP ANIMAL ORIGIN. 

These are numerous, and are found in the work of all the basket 
makers. First and foremost are the human figures. 

Fig. 271 represents three most beautiful and rare baskets in the 
Plimpton Collection, San Diego, Cal. These interestingly reveal the 



V 

V 
V 
V 

V 
V 





FIGS. 300-301-302-303. 



various modes of presenting the human figure. The upper basket, oval 
in shape, was made by a Wichumna of the Yokut tribe. She was living 
in one of the upper reaches of King's River in Kern County. Here the 
figures are those of dancers, holding hands, some wearing feathered. 



SYMBOLISM OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 



209 



kilts I showed the photograph of this basket to an intelligent weaver, 
and she informed me that it represented a "big dance," something the 
weaver desired to celebrate and keep in memory, as the kilted hgures 
were possibly those of the Shamans, many of whom were present. 1 he 
crosses were copied from the Pictured Rocks of the locality, and, taken 
in conjunction with the great dance, the presence of so many kilted 
Shamans or medicine men, and the explanation given that these 
crosses represent battles, she assumed that this was a memorial basket 
made by a woman who witnessed the dances held m honor of certain 
decisive victories won by her people. Above the dancers is the diamond- 
back rattlesnake pattern beautifully woven. 




FIG. 304. ONE OF DAT-SO-LA-LEE'S MASTERPIECES. 

The basket to the left is by a Tulare weaver, and shows the general 
method followed by this people to represent the human figure. In the 
border above are the St. Andrew's crosses ^before re erred -to 

The basket to the ri^ht is an old Inyo County basket, purchased in 
Lone Pine from a Paiutl woman by Mr. A. W. De La Cour Carroll, an 
enthusiastic basketry collector, who has secured some choice spe<™ 
It shows the oldest type of human figure known to these Indians and 
offers a singular contrast to both the other designs 

The laro-e basket, Fig. 80, is evidently a dance basket, used to rep 
rese^ circular dance, and may be a Yokut, a California Jamti , or an 
Anache This latter people often make a circular dance basket the 
assign of which repreSente the Havasupai Thapala or Peach Dance 
Ms ?s supposed to bring good luck to the maker and her family as 
Smpafa P Dance is associated in her mind with the abundance , ofthe 
harvest of the Havasupais when she, as a visitor, was feasted on corn, 
melons, squash, pumpkins and other good things. 



210 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

In the chapter on "Basket Forms and Designs and their Relation 
to Art" is shown a Hopi presentation cf the human face (see Fig. 165) 
and on the Apache basket, Fig. 105, many human figures are woven. 
In the basket marked No. 10 in Fig. 272, Rosario Casero, the Cahuilla 
weaver, represents girls using the skipping rope in which- the figures 
are strikingly realistic. Such designs as these are important as they 
show a high stage of geometrical conventionalization, imposed by the 
materials used in weaving, and, at the same time, as close an imitation 
of the originals as the limitations of weaving' allowed. This subject has 
been fully discussed elsewhere. 

In two of the baskets of Fig. 28 dancing Shamans are shown. 

In the Thompson Indians' designs Farrand shows several most in- 
teresting ones of human heads. In all of them the mouth is open, and 
in One case the teeth are represented. This design is practically shown 
in Fig. 298, on the lower right basket. It requires some imagination 
to|see, in this highly conventionalized design, which is simply two of 
th^ plateaux and canyon design of Fig. 292, placed face to face in a per- 
pendicular, instead of a horizontal position, the representation of a 
human face and yet that is the explanation given by its weaver. It is 
well to compare this with the graphic representation on Fig. 265. 

In Figs. 28 and 48 hunters are seen in the quail design basket, and 
in ithe beautiful Yokut bowl of Fig. 52 are well made human figures. 
These are similar to the ones found in Figs. 164 and 236 and two of 
the baskets of Fig. 58. But in. Fig. 72 there are decidedly novel pre- 
sentations of men and women. --The:: men are differentiated from the 
wOmen by being taller and in the exaggerated form of their "divided" 
garment, the split of which is made to reach far up beyond the waist, 
even to the bottom of the chest. The women stand straddling so that 
their spread-out skirts are made very imposing. In Fig. 79 basket No. 
3 has a number of human figures, who stand hand in hand in a circle. 
These are undoubtedly dancers, and Fig. 149 is a "stitch" representation 
of [similar figures showing how the lines of geometricity are imposed 
by the splint stitch upon the weave. In Fig. 105 many of the men 
stand with the left arm upraised and the open palm presented. This is 
signal, or sign-language for "halt," and is the hunter's sign of success, 
he having "halted" all the deer that came near him on the occasion of 
his excursion. Human figures will also be seen on the beautiful 
McLeod basket, Fig. 270. 

Perhaps the most common design in California baskets is that of 
the diamond-backed rattlesnake. In its simplest and purest form it is 
well shown 111 Fig. 48 (the basket to the right) and Fig. 52. Here 
there can be no mistaking the design. It is also very clear in Fig. 275, 
the circles alternating with the St. Andrew's crosses, which, as 1 have 
before explained, are an evolution from the rattlesnake design. Other 
manifestations of this design may be seen in Figs. 3, 4, 15, 28, 42, 48, 
52, 58, 74, 79, 271, 275, and 297. In Fig. 42 the Saboba weaver called 
this "rattlesnake," yet it is very much like the design in Fig. 305, which 
represents the villages of the Saboba people joined together by ties 
of kinship and amity. Farrand pictures a somewhat similar design, 
with double lines, however, which represents to the Thompson Indians 
lakes connected by a river. 

Another common California and North Pacific region design is 
that of the quail. The distinguishing feature of this design is the 



SYMBOLISM OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 

plume, which appears something ^e a ^ stoch* a g£ £*«£ 
is invariably shown in vertical square-tipped apps »«» » P 

and it is possible that On bas ket 49, m J* 97. » « ^ ^ d 

conventionalized form. In rig. 234 some 01 uic ^ basket 

plumes and'a highly conventionalized mountain design, down or 

^ttroitommonlhinT^ find fine baskets ornamented with the 
plumes : themselves, many of them being used in the ornamented shi-bu 

° f '-BirisTdfflerent kinds, beside the quail, are often represented. The 
1 LZ r h a sl-ef of FW 170, on the bottom row, was made by 

FenPaXvakwa at Calmilla and the large diamonds, she said were 
Lino eeese In Fig. 1 55 the inverted triangles that run around he up- 
Sr nart are'said to be flying geese. In Fig. 81 the upper basket to the 

K,r -him thp annendices are triangular instead ol square, as m ri b . yu. 
Figs "66 nd P ?6 are bird forms & explained by Holmes. E sewhere m 
shaking of the evolution of design I have quo ted ^rrand In Figs^ 
46, 262 and 78 the hour glass bird design is clearly shown £ the lar b e 
basket of Fig. 297, of l J oma weave, l\o. 4, the central design _ is a 
Wghly conventionalized calyx of a flower, but the .mam design is o 
birds; somewhat similar to those pictured by Farrand. D ^pictures 
a zi-'zae- design something like the two shown in Fig. 77 and explains . 
^t is said to Signify the patch of white seen on each side of the bird. 
It is known as the "duck's wing." . . 

The living bats of Fig. 306 are readily distinguished. 
In Fio- 27 in the Apache basket to the right on the bottom row, 
and in basket No. 2, Fig. 79, are several butterflies, and in Figs. 53 
and 248 are also butterfly wings. . 

In the Hopi basket, Fig. 61, is a highly convention hzed design 
which I have been told represents both the dragon fly and the bee 

Chisters of flies are represented in the round basket m the center of 
Fig. 45, and in Fig. 86. The center design of Fig. 237 is also a fly 

ClUS The spider-web design, so important to the Hopi is shown in their 
baskets in Figs. 34, 81 and 114, and is also represented in the Apache 
basket in Fig" 27 (the bottom to the right), and in the Agua Cahente 
basket in the hands of the weaver, Fig. 55. 

In the bottom basket to the right of Fig. 170 and the bottom to the 
left of Fio- 73 are different representations of the track of certain earth- 



worms. 



212 , INDIAN BASKETKr. 

In the upper row of the design of the basket to the left in Fig. 78 
are several animals, possibly reindeer, and in Fig. 105 both deer and 
elk are shown. 

In Fig. 272 the keen-eyed may see a basket marked 15. This was 
made at Cahuilla, and represents the four feet and claws of a bear, put 
in star fashion, with a design on the sides representing the sharp saw 
teeth of ursa major. 

Fish are often found represented on the baskets of the North Pacific 
Coast and Alaska Indians. In Fig. 46 the basket at bottom to the 
right shows the glisten on the rolling waves, through which fish (repre- 
sented by the diamonds) are seen to be swimming. See also Fig. 302 
and the comments in section e of this same chapter, where the use of 
the diamond to represent fish is discussed. 

I have an interesting Havasupai basket in my own collection, the 
design of which is much like the horizontal zig-zags seen in Figs. j6 
and 196. These zig-zags, however, all start from near the center, and 
at the beginning of each is a sort of imperfect parallelogram, which is 
clearly a head. The weaver told me that these were four plumed ser- 
pents, and that the basket was used to carry the sacred meal which was 
sprinkled at a certain shrine, the serpent being the guardian of their 
water sources. 

(g) DESIGNS OF VEGETABLE ORIGIN. 

Farrand and Dixon picture few designs of vegetable origin. The 
former found an acute zig-zag which was said to represent a plant with 
fern-like leaf, end view. A somewhat similar design is shown in the 
top basket of Fig. 28. Dixon pictures a flower, brake, vine, pine cone 
and bush. In Fig. 56 the design on the last basket but one to the 
right was said to be pine cones piled one above another, but it is a 
very different design from that pictured by Dixon. 

Trees are represented in the singular design of the Alaska basket 
to the left, on the bottom of Fig. 45, and the seventh basket from the 
left of Dat-so-la-lee's work, Fig. 56, also represents trees. In Fig. 
63 the Chemehuevi weaver represents a tree, stem and leaves, and Fig. 
300 is a conventionalized representation, quite common in Southern 
California, of the twigs shooting out from the trunk of a growing 
tree. It is generally placed around the basket, instead of perpendicular, 
as in Fig. 63. 

In Fig. 196 the upper circle of the design is of trees. In Fig. 170, 
on the second row from the bottom, and the second basket from the 
left, is a basket I bought in Saboba. It was made by Juana Apapos 
while on a visit to Cahuilla. 

The design shows mountain benches and towering peaks, and deep, 
depressed valleys. A tiny spot of white will be seen in most of these 
"valleys." These represent the water pools and ponds that accumulate 
below the ground. Over the valleys are great, overhanging, black, 
double triangles, and for some time she hesitated before declaring 
these to be crude representations of the large trees that grow on Mounts 
San Jacinto and San Gorgonio. With a deprecatory laugh she ex- 
claimed : "I made the first too big and it didn't suit me, but I made all 
the others like it." 

Beautiful flower designs are often found in the basketry of Southern 
California. In Fig. 80 the design of the basket to the left is of the calyx 
of a flower, and a similar beautiful design is shown in the fourth basket 



SYMBOLISM OF INDIAN BASKETRY. . 2IJ 

from the bottom on the left in Fig. 170. This same basket is seen 
clearer in Fig. 273, No. 11. The designs on the two baskets at the 
extreme right and left of Fig. 103 are similar to what Dixon pictures as 
a flower design. It consists of broad-based triangles, each row from the 
base to the top containing successively larger triangles. 

Dixon also figures a fern design somewhat similar to basket No. 8 
in the Campbell collection, Fig. 297. It is the common brake (Pteris 
aquilinaj, and the points are intended for the pinnae of the ferns, but, 
he adds, "the meaning of the bars in the central stripe is not yet clear." 
Accepting the Poma interpretation this design represents the ascending 
steps of the mountains, and the central stripe is of water flowing down. 

In Fig. 170 the second basket from the bottom on the left has a 
beautiful design worked in brown. Its maker told me it represented 
the waving leaves of corn, as they were bowed over in the wind. Basket 
No. 5 in Fig. 272 is an exquisitely worked Agua Caliente, representing 
the base of the yucca, and Fig. 303 is a common design showing the 
pointed leaves of this desert denizen. 

(h) DESIGNS OP NATURAL ORIGIN. 

In the realm of nature, aside from the animal and vegetable king- 
doms, the aboriginal artist found the motive for many of her most 
effective and interesting designs. In the exercise of the imitative 
faculty she could not fail to be led into imitating those things that most 
impressed her, hence we find designs of mountains, lightning, rain- 
clouds, the streams, etc., in great profusion. 

Perhaps the most common design of all basketry is the zigzag, both 
horizontal and perpendicular. As before shown, this may represent 
lightning, mountains, waves, flowing water or the ripples in the streams, 
according to the individual taste of the weaver. In Fig. 31, however, 
we have a solid basis to rest upon, in the antelope altar of the Hopis. 
Here the zigzags are assuredly of the lightning, connected with the 
rain clouds. In Fig. 244, also, we have a design said to be the male and 
female lightning. In Fig. 15 is the bottom of a saucer-shaped basket, 
just below the Ute seed- wand, on the right, and this is of the conven- 
tionalized lightning pattern. In the top basket of Fig. 28 is a design 
either of lightning or mountain and Valleys, and in the basket just below 
the left is a highly conventionalized pattern, which Dr. Hudson says 
is the ripples on the water. The Havasupai basket held by the woman 
in Fig. 36 (the largest basket there) is undoubtedly of the lightning. 
as both the holder and a Havasupai to whom I submitted it said the 
same thing. In the basket to the left of the weaver in Fig. 49 is the 
descending lightning, and this same pattern is seen in Figs. 56, 74, 87, 
203 and 204. Zig-zags that are as likely to represent the 
ascending steps of the mountains as lightning are shown in Figs. 73 
and 196. The difficulty of determining between the two is well illus- 
trated in Fig. 106, the interpretation of which I obtained from an 
Apache. 

The upper chevron is the conventionalized lightning pattern. The 
lower chevron represents the mountains and intervening valleys, and 
the black line reaching from each valley to the common black circle 
center, shows how the waters accumulate in the valleys and from thence 
go to feed the great waters at the center of the earth from which all 
springs originate. This black line and center cannot be seen in the en- 
graving. 



214 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

Fig. 62, however, is certainly of the mountain and valley design, 
as its Wallapai maker so informed- me. The Sacred Navaho Basket, 
Fig, 27, as I have before explained, represents the mountains and val- 
leys of the upper world and also of the under world. Fig 227 is an in- 
different imitation of this design and means the same thing. 

The two top baskets in Fig. 46 represent mountains and valleys, 
with lakes, and the Washoe design of Fig. 204 is interesting because 
of its complexity. It shows mountains and valleys, and on the sum- 
mits of the mountains the inverted pyramids are rain clouds. Reach- 
ing down below the valleys are water courses terminating in lakes. 

Fig. 51 is a fine Poma basket and the zigzag is that of mountains 
and valleys, as is also the design of Fig. 188. The Saboba design of 
Fig. 170 (second basket from left of second row from bottom) has been 
fully explained. 

Perhaps one of the best of the highly conventionalized mountain 
and valley patterns is shown in the large basket No.i of Fig. 79. Here 
trees are represented growing both on the heights and in the plains. 
Fig. 151 clearly shows mountains and valleys, and the black patches 
are pools or lakes of water. 

The ascending steps or terraces of the mountains are often shown, 
however, in an entirely different manner, and Fig. 86 is a type of this 
design. Here the ascent is gradual, but certain. This design appears 
in Figs. 48, 164, 236 and 270, and in a modified form in Figs. 28, 52, 
92 and others. Some weavers contend that this represents flowing 
water, and in the case of such designs, as on the basket to the right in 
Fig. 76 claim that water flowing down the mountain sides is repres- 
ented. , This latter is a common Poma design. 

In the top center basket of Fig. 58 is a volute design which repre- 
sents mountain steps, and this is also said to be the design of the large 
basket dimly seen to the right in Fig. 57. The center upper basket of 
Fig. 298 is clearly a mountain step design. From what has here been 
said it will be seen that only the weaver herself can determine which 
design represents mountains, and which flowing streams. The large 
center basket of Fig. 28, the left basket of Fig. 48, the large basket of 
the second row from the top of Fig. 58, the large shu- 
set to the left of Fig. 74, the shu-set on the right of Fig. 76, the two to 
the left of Fig. 92, and the design on the body of Fig. 155 are all said, 
by some weavers, to represent flowing streams and the sunshine 
ripples upon the water. On the bottom basket of Fig. y6 and the body 
of Fig. 196 are rippling streams. 

In the Apache and Pima baskets are to be found many and varied 
manifestations of a design that has undoubtedly the same motive. Dr. 
Wilson regards this design, in some of its forms, as the Swastika, and 
there is no doubt as to its likeness to this well-known and world-wide 
sign or symbol. The constant recurrence of this design in some form 
or other, so interested me that I made enquiry of a number of weavers, 
both Apache and Pima, and always with the same result. Water is 
their greatest desideratum. This design represents the source of the 
water supply in the great central figure, and the geometrical lines lead- 
ing out from this central reservoir are the winding and meandering 
streams. Excellent examples of this design will be found in Figs. 27, 
120, 246, 82, 57 and 75, and when I showed a Pima weaver the photo- 



SYMBOLISM OF/INDIAN BASKETRY. 2I 5 

graphof Fig. 58 she insisted that the designs of several of those were 
of. the same origin." 

The difference between this "water-source" design of the lakes can 
be seen by comparing the foregoing with Figs. 46, 78, 151 and 204 
in all of which lakes are said to be represented. 

In the two bottom baskets in Fig. 46 waves are said to be shown. 
In the one to the left one weaver said the diamonds were flounders, 
or some other flat fish, and that waves and flounders alternated, but 
another insisted that the wavy lines were mountains and valleys and the 
hour-glass design, which makes the diamonds, was of a bird; (see 
remarks of Farrand's on the bird design, earlier in this chapter). 

Rain clouds often appear, but in varied forms. In the sacred 
Navaho basket, Fig. 29, clouds, heavy with rain, are represented. Fig. 
31 shows the rain clouds of the Hopi Antelope Altar. In Fig. 36, the 
basket of the woman whose head is most bowed shows the Havasupai 
design for the rain cloud, a kind of terrace, more like a mountain than 
a cloud. The same design is seen in Fig. 25, and the peculiar geomet- 
rical design of Fig. 35 is said to be a Hopi representation of rain clouds. 
In showing Fig. 120 to one Pima weaver, she claimed that the funnel- 
shaped figures on the rim are the rain clouds, which send rain to 
the earth, there to meet the streams that flow from the water source in 
the interior of the earth. 

Connected with rain are the rainbows and these are seen in the 
second basket from the bottom on the right in Fig. 170. This was 
made bv a Cahuilla woman. The same basket is seen in Fig. 272 and 
is No. 18. 

Stars are not uncommon. In Fig. 57 a Mescalero Apache has made 
a star in the basket I have marked M, and in Fig. 75 is an Apache star. 
In several Cahuilla and Agua Caliente baskets the star is seen. See 
Fig. 2J2, basket No. 8, and Fig 307. 

In Fig. 119 Dat-so-la-le represents the up-darting beams of light 
of the rising sun, and in Fig. 304 the ascending heat waves, or the 
light of early morning rising from behind the serrated mountain 
summits. 

(i) DESIGNS OF ARTIFACT ORIGIN. 

The most common of designs gained from manufactured objects. 
is that of the arrow point. This is met with in a thousand and one 
ways. The ingenuity of the weaver seems to have been exercised to 
?he utmost to produce variations upon this single theme. On the top 
basket of Fig. 27 is a row of arrow points, and they appear in Figs. 56* 
and the smaller designs of Fig. 247. Fig 240 is made entirely of 
arrow points, and basket 16 of Fig. 272 is the same. Baskets 
Nos. i, 3, 4, 9 and 10 of Fig. 273 and No. 1 of Fig. 297 are all 
of arrow point design. Farrand pictures a Salish arrow point design 
exactly like that seen on Fig. 299. 

Of almost as common occurrence is the "reda" or net design. This 
carrying net was one of the earliest premonitions of basketry, hence 
it is not strange that it should be frequently incorporated into modern 
work. In Fig. 15 the basket below the topmost one has this design, 
as has also the basket in the hands of the weaver, Fig. 47. Two of the 
baskets of Fig. 49 are net designs, and the one to the right of the 
weaver is well shown in Fig. 172. In Fig. 121 the net is shown with a 



21.6 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

.number of articles inside. Baskets No. n, of Fig. 272, and No. 13, 
of Fig. 273 are both of this "reda" pattern, the former from Agua 
Caliente and the latter from Cahuilla. 

In Fig. 247 the wife of a warrior wished to represent stone battle 
axes as well as arrow-points, and Farrand figures one of a somewhat 
similar motive. 

The cross occasionally appears. It may represent a star, a place of 
battle or slaughter, (either of men or animals), the crossing of trails, 
or a phallic sign. It will be seen in Figs. 59, 86, 105 and 270. 

Twice weavers have told me that they intended to represent fences. 
The upper design in the basket to the right of Fig. 48, and the two 
upper and two lower designs, enclosing the St. Andrew's crosses, of 
the basket to the .right in the middle row of Fig. 28 show these repre- 
sentations. 

The small basket on the top to the left of Fig. 170 was made by 
Juana Apapos, at Saboba. She said it represented the time "a great 
many snows ago, when, here in Saboba, and she was a very little girl, 
the old men and women came together and sat in a rude circle and there 
played a game with sticks, which they stuck in the sand within the 
circle. As they won or lost the sticks changed hands, and some would 
have many and some few." 

The players are represented in the oval at the bottom of the basket 
and four of the sticks, standing upright, are shown above it, while 
eight more are at each end and four more at the other side. 

(j) BASKETS WITH MIXED DESIGNS. 

It is scarcely necessary here to dwell in detail upon the fact that in 
many baskets the design is complex. There are mountains, valleys, 
canyons and trees in one, and streams, quail, hunters, trails and butter- 
flies in another. Examples of this complexity in design are seen in Fig. 
28, where the rattlesnake design and dancers are found in one basket, 
and flowing water with ripples, quail plumes and human figures are in 
another. The baskets in Figs. 46, 48, 52, 53, 57, &c, serve to illus- 
trate further. I am satisfied that, ultimately, it will generally be found 
that this complexity is not purposeless, or merely imitative, but that 
these various signs or symbols are placed in juxtaposition for some 
reason clearly in the mind of the weaver. When we are able to inter- 
pret these mixed designs as the weaver herself does we shall be a long 
step nearer the goal of knowledge which will reveal the Indian to us, 
not the dumb, unintelligent, unimaginative, unreligious character we 
have too long regarded him, but as a mentally alert, intelligent, observ- 
ant, imaginative, poetic and religious being, whose mental operations 
it is both interesting and instructive to study. 



THE POETRY OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 



217 





218 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



_r_ CHAPTER XIII. _ 

; THE POETRY OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 

Nd collector will heed to be told of the charm and delight that are to 
be. found in each "fine" basket. One's emotional nature : is aijoused 
and quickened again and again, as new beauties are observed inform, 
color and design. I \ '£ : 

But the greatest source of delight in basketry, to my mind, is; to be 
found in the, as yet, almost untouched well of symbolism; the ppetry, 
the religion, the superstition woven by the humble Amerind into her 
basket. 

Capt. J. G. Bourke in his "Apache Campaign," speaks of Indians 
; of that tribe who "are happy in the possession of priceless sashes and 
! shirts of buckskin, upon which are emblazoned the signs of the sun„ 
moon, lightning, rainbow, hail, fire, the water-beetle, butterfly, snake, 
centipede and other powers to which they may appeal for aid in the 
■■ hour of distress." And he might have added to this that the women, 
in their basketry, incorporate exactly the same signs for the same pur- 
pose. Many of these signs and symbols are to be found in the Apache 
collection of baskets in the American Museum of Natural History, 
New York. They were donated to the museum by Mr. Douglas, of the 
Queen Copper Company, and were collected from the Apaches on the 
San Carlos Reservation, Arizona, by a trader there. 

I have but few illustrations to elucidate this idea, yet these are suffi- 
cient to demonstrate the existence of the highest faculties of the soul. 
These, too, will serve to stimulate others to a true and full interpret- 
ation of designs that otherwise have little or no significance. Farrand 
speaks of certain Thompson designs which represent the dream 
visions of the weavers. Could we get at a full statement of these visions 
how instructive and interesting they might be. 

It was from the basket held in the hands of Jose Pedro Lucero, 
Fig. 305, that I gained my first sight into, and delicious draught from, 
this deep poetic well. Lucero's wife was one of the few basket makers 
left at Saboba, near San Jacinto, California, and in this basket she wove 
the legendary history of her people. The story told was as follows : 
"Before my people came here they lived far, far away in the land that 
is in the heart of the setting sun. But Siwash, our great god, told 
Uuyot, the warrior captain of my people, that we must come away from 
this land and sail away and away in a direction that he would give us. 
Under Uuvot's orders my people built big boats and then, with Siwash 
himself leading them, and with Uuyot as captain, they launched them 
into the ocean and rowed away from the shore. There was no light on 
the ocean. Everything was covered with a dark fog and it wasi only 
by singing as they rowed that the boats were enabled to keep together. 

It was still dark and foggy when the boats landed on the shotes of 
this land, and my ancestors groped about in the darkness, wondering 
why they had been brought hither. Then, suddenly, the heavens bp." li- 
ed, and lightnings flashed and thunders roared and the rains fell, and 
a great earthquake shook all the earth. Indeed, all the elements of 
earth, ocean and heaven seemed to be mixed up together, and with 



thp: poetry of Indian basketry. 2I 9 

terror in their hearts, and silence on their tongues my people stood still 
awaiting what would happen further. Though no voice had spoken 
they knew something was going to happen, and they were breathless in 
their anxiety to know what it was. Then they turned to Uuyot and 
asked him what the raging of the elements meant. Gently he calmed 
their fears and bade them be silent and wait. As they waited, a terrible 
clap of thunder rent the very heavens and the vivid lightning revealed 
the frightened people huddling together as a pack of sheep. But Uuyot 
stood alone, brave and fearless, and daring the anger of 'Those Above.' 
With a loud voice he cried out: 'Wit-i-a-ko !' which signified 'Who's 
there; "What do you want?' There was no response. The heavens, 
were silent! The earth was silent! The ocean was silent! All nature, 
was silent! Then with a voice full of tremulous sadness and loving 
yearning for his people Uuyot said : 'My children, my own sons and 
daughters, something is wanted of us by "Those Above." What it is 
I do not know. Let us gather together and bring "pivat," and with it 
make the big smoke and then dance and dance until we are told what 
is required of us.' " 

So the people brought "pivat" — a native tobacco that grows in 
Southern California — and Uuyot brought the big ceremonial pipe 
which he had made out of rock, and he soon made the big smoke and 
blew the smoke up into the heavens while he urged the people to dance. 
They danced hour after hour, until they grew tired, and Uuyot smoked 
all the time, but still he urged them to dance. 

Then he called out again to 'Those Above:' 'Witiako!' but could 
obtain no response. This made him sad and disconsolate, and when 
the people saw Uuyot sad and disconsolate they became panic-stricken, 
ceased to dance and clung around him for comfort and protection. 
But poor Uuyot had none to give. He himself was the saddest and 
most forsaken cf all, and he got up and bade the people leave hi n al:ne, 
as he wished to walk to and fro by himself. Then he made the people 
smoke and dance, and when they rested they knelt in a circle and 
prayed. But he walked away by himself, feeling keenly the refusal of 
'Those Above' to speak to him. His heart was deeply wounded. 

But, as the people prayed and danced and sang, a gentle light came 
stealing into the sky from the far, far east. Little by little the darkness 
was driven away. First the light was grey, then yellow, then white, 
and at last the glittering brilliancy of the sun filled all the land and cov- 
ered the sky with glory. The sun had arisen for the first time, and in its 
light and warmth my people knew they had the favor of 'Those 
Above,' and they were contented and happy. 

But when Siwash, the god of earth, looked around and saw every- 
thing revealed by the sun, he was discontented, for the earth was bare 
and level and monotonous and there was nothing to cheer the sight. 
So he took some of the people and of them he made high mountains, 
and of some, smaller mountains. Of some he made rivers and creeks 
and lakes and waterfalls, and of others, coyotes, foxes, deer, antelope, 
bear, squirrels, porcupines and all the other animals. Then he made 
out of other people all the different kinds of snakes and reptiles and 
insects and birds and fishes. Then he wanted trees and plants and 
flowers, and he turned some of the people into these things. Of every 
man or woman that he seized he made something according to its 
value. When he had done he had used up so many people he was 



220 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

scared. So he set to work and made a new lot of people, some to live 
here and some to live everywhere. And he gave to each family its own 
language and tongue and its own place to live, and he told them where 
to live and the sad distress that would come upon them if they mixed 
up their tongues by intermarriage. Each family was to live in its own 
place and while all the different families were to be friends and live as 
brothers, tied together by kinship, amity and concord, there was to be 
ho mixing of bloods. 

Thus were settled the original inhabitants on the coast of Southern 
California by Siwash, the god of the earth, and under the captaincy 
bfUuyot." 

In the basket the circles representing the villages of the Sabobas 
: are seen, and the link that binds them together. Above this design 
is the representation of the mountains and valleys in which their vil- 
lages were located, and peeping over the latter may be seen figures 
which represent sun, moon, evening and morning star, etc., which 
assured the simple-hearted Sabobas that "Those Above" had not de- 
serted them. 

I once found another basket at Saboba with stitches and cross 
stitches upon it, making a criss-cross design that seemed as if it could 
'not be imitative, conventionalized, symbolic or ideographic. Yet as I 
talked with Juana Apapos, its maker, a bright, witty, elderly woman, 
I was convinced that it had its meaning. For a long time she parried 
all my questions, with the Indian's dread of being laughed at or derided, 
but, at length, convinced that I should not ridicule her she said that 
"over and over again when she was weary and tired, and angered at 
the subjection of her people to the rude and domineering whites, as 
she lay down at night, her eyes wandered to the 'long path of gray light 
in the sky' — the milky way — and she felt she would like to pass away, 
to die. Then her spirit would walk on this path of light with 'Those 
Above,' and from thence. she could look down upon the white people 
in the sorrows she hoped would come upon them for their wicked 
treatment of her people." 

The mingled pathos, indignation and anger with which she said 
these things showed the deep current of feeling which possessed her, 
though she was living among surroundings of poverty and squalor, 
and had a physiognomy that, to the general visitor to her village, con- 
tained nothing but the low, grovelling, animal, and sensual. 

This criss-cross pattern was her method of representing the milky- 
way. 

Some years ago I sought to find the meaning of a similar design 
upon a certain Zuni head-dress, worn in one of their mystic dances. 
At last, after pledging myself not to laugh at the answer, I was asked 
what the white man called that "up in the sky, all same sprinkled with 
white ashes," and- when I explained it was "the milky way," I was 
informed that that was the meaning of the design that had so puzzled 
me, thus revealing a keen observation of the heavens in Zuni as well 
as Saboba. 

Another most fascinating basket is the one held in the hands of 
the woman in Fig. 307. It is well known to all who have studied the 
facts and fictions of "H. H.'s" wonderful novel "Ramona," that the 
pages that describe the shooting of Alessandro by Jim Farrar are based 
on fact. Indeed, taking the Indian's side of the story, they are literally 



THE POETRY OF INDIAN BASKETFtY. 



221 




PIG. 307. RAMONA AND HER STAR BASKET. 
Copyright by George Wharton James. 




PIG. 308. COLLECTION OP DR. C. C. WAINWRIGHT, SAN JACINTO, CAL 



222 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

true. The woman of this part of the story is still living at the village of 
Cahuilla, in the San Jacinto mountains, where "H. H." located the 
scene as it transpired in her novel. For some years I have known 
Ramona, and on several occasions have photographed her. On my 
last visit to Cahuilla, in the summer of 1900, I purchased several bas- 
kets from a weaver, one of which had a large star in the center. When 
I asked her for an interpretation of this design she said she did not 
make the basket and therefore knew nothing of the weaver's thought. 
But though I urged her she refused to tell me who made the basket. 
That afternoon Ramona came to my wagon to tell into my graphophone 
the story of the shooting of her husband. While I prepared the ma- 
chine she looked over the various baskets I had bought, and, suddenly, 
darting upon this star basket, breathlessly asked me where 1 had 
bought her basket. "Your basket, Ramona?" I queried. "How is it 
yours? I bought it from Rosario." "Ah!" she replied. "It is mine, I 
make it, then I sell it." 

The next clay when I went down to her little cabin I took the bas- 
ket with me, but she would tell me nothing of it until later. Then I 
learned the interesting story, which was somewhat as follows : 

"Sometimes I cannot sleep when I lie down at night. I see again 
that awful man coming over the hill with his gun in his hand and I 
hear the shot as he fired at my husband. Then I see him pull his 
revolver, and hear his vile curses, as he shot again and again at the 
dead body. And I look up into the sky and my face is wet with tears 
and I try to think of what the good padre tells me that I shall some day 
go up there somewhere and be with Juan again. I hope so, for I love 
the stars, and when I begin to think of being up there my sorrow ceases 
and I am soon asleep." 

"But," I asked, "why did you sell the basket, Ramona? If it gave 
you comfort, why didn't you keep it?" 

"Ah!" she replied, "I wait a long, long time. I want to go many 
times, but I no go. I stay here. I no want to stav here. I grow tired 
waiting. Basket say I go, I no go. Basket heap lie. I no like'em, 
so I sell 'em," and with a despairing gesture she threw the basket away 
from her, as if she had thrown away all hope of ever reaching her poor 
murdered husband in the region of "the above" which the good priest 
had endeavored to describe to her. Poor Ramona, she is not the only 
human being who has grown weary of the battle and conflict of life and 
longed to depart hence. 

The basket into which the old Indian woman is gazing, shown in 
Fig. 306, is more interesting than at first sight one would suppose. 
The design represents flying bats. These nocturnal pests had gained 
access into the sleeping room of the old woman and were "sucking her 
breath away," so that she would soon die. She made the basket to 
hold the propitiatory offerings that she intended to give to the powers 
who controlled the bats, in order that they would heed her prayer, and 
keep the vermin away from her. With naive simplicity and perfect 
faith she assured me that since she had made the offerings in this 
specially designed basket the bats had ceased to trouble her. 

Fig. 308 represents a portion of the collection of Dr. C. C. Wain- 
wright, of San Jacinto, Cal. On the large carrying basket, in which the 
doctor's little son would sit while I was making the photograph, are a 
number of concentric rings, which diminish in size as the bottom of 



THE POETRY OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 22 3 

the basket is reached, and there give place to a single dot. With touch- 
ing pathos the maker said she intended that the lessening circles 
should describe the diminishing power and numbers of her people. 
Said she : "When my people first came here they were under the direct 
smile and approval of 'Those Above.' They were a great people and 
the large circle represents their power and influence at that time. 
But as the years rolled on the Padres (Spanish missionaries) came and 
they took away first one, then another of the privileges of my people 
until they were reduced to this size, and this, and this, (pointing to the 
diminishing size of the circle). Thus, when the Mexicans drove out 
the Spaniards, they were too weak to fight with and overcome them ; 
so once again their power was curtailed and this circle represents their 
diminished grandeur. 

Then the Americans came and finished the demoralization begun 
by the Spaniards, and now this tiny circle represents my people, and 
soon, alas ! very soon, nothing will be required but this dot to represent 
a once proud and great race that surrounded the earth." 




FIG. 269. BASKET USED IN DICE GAMES. 



224 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
BASKETS TO BE PRIZED. 

If from what I have written or quoted in the foregoing pages 
there has not been enough said to show that there are some baskets 
which have peculiar and distinctive claims, nothing that I can now 
write will have any effect. It is is merely to more fully emphasize what 
is there written that this chapter finds place. 

Broadly it may be said that the baskets most highly prized by intel- 
ligent collectors are the older specimens of the work of all the Mission 
Indians, the Yokuts, Pomas, Klamath, Haida, Salish Stock , Makah 
and Attu peoples of the Pacific coast, and of the Apaches, Cheme- 
huevis, Hopi, Havasupais, Pimas and Paiutis in Arizona and there- 
abouts. 

Individual tastes vary, necessarily, but no one can look upon such 
baskets as those of the Campbell private collection, pictured in 
Figs. 15, 79 and 297, or those of the Plimpton collection, Figs. 
27, 28, 45, 46, 5Q, 51 , 52 , 53 , 74 , 76 , 77 , 86 , 87 , 271 and 275 , or the 
Wilcomb collection, Fig. 94, or the one selection from the beautiful 
McLeod collection, Fig. 270, as well as many others herein pictured, 
and not see that their makers displayed exquisite taste in shape, con- 
mate skill in weave, artistic conception in ornamentation, and, if the 
exact colors could be reproduced, an appreciation of the harmony of 
colors that few Americans can surpass. 

Baskets of this class are prizes, and well selected collections contain 
specimens of all the weaves thus typified. 

Mrs. Carr thus wrote of the charm of old basketry : "Jacinta, one 
of the last surviving neophytes of Father Junipero Serra's flock, was 
brought to Pasadena in 1888, with all the materials and implements 
of basketry, to assist in illustrating it during an Art Loan Exhibition. 
Passing up the nave of the Library Building, where Navaho blankets 
and the fine Crittenden Collection of Indian Curiosities from the Gulf 
of California to Alaska, attracted attention, the dim old eyes of Jacinta 
fell upon the display of basketry. It was touching to see her interest 
aroused as she gradually recognized her own work, which she took 
from the shelves, fondling it with her small brown hands, as a mother 
would linger over the playthings of a' dead child. Whenever the crowd 
diminished, Jacinta was seen examining' her treasures, which were 
woven early in the century. It is scarcely to be expected that such a 
collection will ever again be gathered, as since that time the State has 
been ransacked for baskets in the interest of Eastern and foreign col- 
lections and of speculators for their artistic value. There yet remain a 
few valuable private collections in the possession of owners notably 
interested in the perpetuation of this beautiful art. There is an indes- 
cribable magnetism attaching to them altogether different from any 
other feminine property. Collectors and dealers find it harder to part 
with them than with articles of far greater value, and reserve certain 
favorites for the elect among customers, who are likely to cherish 
them." 



BASKETS TO BE PRIZED. 



225 



The true passion of the basket collector is made the theme of a 
charming little story in Scribners for August, 1890, by Grace Ellery 
Channing-Stetson. It opens "Sixteen in all. Five large ones, two 
small queer ones, four medium, three with the Greek pattern, the little 
brown one, and this beauty. " Then comes the sting. The proud col- 
lector is told that she "has as fine a lot of baskets now as anyone in 
the valley, saving only old Anita. Ah ! if the Senorita could see 
hers — !" Yes, indeed, hers was three feet high and "fine" — he cast 
a disdainful glance at the baskets about her — "you have nothing like 
it, Senorita. But that is not all. Where the pattern goes there are 
feathers — woodpeckers' feathers woven in, all of the brightest 
scarlet — oh, far gayer than these !" Or, as the collector's true cavalier 
described it: "Its majesty would stand, I think, about three feet high. 
It was very quaintly shaped. It was the finest I have ever seen. There 
was a beguiling, mellow-brown tone to the whole, which attested its 
honorable age, and a most seductive pattern climbing about its sides. 
But there was something more — a gleam of scarlet about it which 
gave it character." 

And the ten interesting pages tell us how, finally, Anita's basket did 
come into the possession of the ardent and infatuated collector. 

Dr. Hudson says : "There are ten graded rules governing a 'basket 
crank' in estimating the value of a Poma basket. Given in the order 
of their importance they are : weave, symmetry of outline, of stitch, 
of thread, delicacy of thread, material, pattern, ornamentation, general 
effect and size. Size is properly placed last in the list, because a shibu's 
diameter is seldom greater than fifteen inches. However there 
is a most rare specimen in a Chicago private collection, which measures 
nine feet in circumference, and for which was paid $800." I believe 
this is now in the Field Columbian Museum. 




226 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



CHAPTER XV. 
THE DECADENCE OF THE ART. 

What are the causes that have led to the rapid decadence of the art 
of basketry ? There can be but one broad answer, and that is the icon- 
oclastic eriect of our civilization upon a simple-hearted people. The 
Amerind is not far-sighted. His reasoning faculties are not ,as 
highly developed as ours. A basket takes weeks, months, to make. 
It sells for few or many dollars. One dollar will buy several tin, 
copper, or brass utensils that serve all the practical (or utilitarian) pur- 
poses of the baskets, even better than the baskets themselves. Hence 
the utilitarian forces the aesthetic to the wall ; drives it from the field, 
and the basket disappears. 

In the high noon-days of the art, the woman had several distinct 
motives to urge her to the highest endeavor. The basket was her 
battle-field. In it she won her triumphs or suffered her defeats. To 
be the best weaver of her family was the height of her early ambition, 
to be the head weaver of her tribe, the aim of her mature life, and to be 
recognized as the leader of leaders of other tribes, the satisfaction of the 
highest possible life ambition. Then, too, in her ability as a weaver, 
a keen-sensed woman saw other advantages than the mere gratifica- 
tion -of personal, family or tribal ambition. To gain the high approval 
of others meant an increase of power and influence. To be a good 
weaver was of practical advantage, just as to be an accomplished piano 
player, conversationalist or housekeeper, is an advantage to a young 
lady among civilized peoples. Men, ever and always, whether 
white or red, are looking for wives, and a wife that can 
do something better than other women possesses a charm and a 
power those others do not possess. This law operated forcefully 
among the simple Amerinds where there were fewer opportunities for 
the manifestation of power and ability than are possessed by the civil- 
ized. To be a good weaver, therefore, meant plenty of suitors, and the 
woman of many suitors has greater opportunities of choice than she 
who has few at her feet. 

Of course there would always be those who did the best, they could 
in order to gratify the dawning and growing aesthetic sense. These 
were the true, artists ; the true preservers of the ideals ; the constant 
setters-up of standards which their less artistic friends eagerly sought 
to reach, for the more practical advantages I have suggested. 

And this was the condition of the art when outside influences began 
to be felt; first Spanish, then Mexican, Russian, French, English, 
American, in speedy succession. The over-powering of the esthetic 
by the utilitarian I have already shown. Side by side with this des- 
tructive spirit lias grown up another equally demoralizing. That is the 
spirit, of mere commercialism, alas ! so prevalent among so-called civ-" 
ilized peoples, and that John Ruskin wrote so powerfully, indignantly, 
and, at times, pathetically, against. How many men and women in 
shop and factory, mill and foundry, labor with definite love for their 
work? Far too few. In cases without end it is merely drudgery; 
so many hours to get through with somehow, with as little expenditure 



THE DECADENCE OP THE ART. 227 

of energy as possible. Ten hours work mean, not so much progress in 
my art to my own and my employer's advantage, but so many dollars 
-and cents. This spirit has begun to possess the Amerind weaver. She 
no longer does her work fondly and with true love. It matters not 
what, to her, she uses in her ware so long as she can make something 
that will sell. Durability, beauty, artistic form, harmony of coloring, 
following her own ideal fancies, these things mean nothing. The main 
questions are: "Will it sell?" and "For how much?" As a result we 
see the wretched aniline dyes desecrating aboriginal work, and tom- 
fool imitations of white men's designs &c, taking the place of the old 
worshippings at Nature's shrine. 

Indeed, as Dr. Hudson well expresses it: "During the wet season, 
when food and work are scarce, the majella is forced to weave salable 
baskets in order to support her family. Her heart is not in this task, 
but improvidence or gambling has dissipated the earnings of last 
season. What was once her grandmother's chief delight has now 
become a labor, for she knows that when her work leaves her hand 
■ it contributes another pleasure to the white man, or coin to his pocket. 
To what extent our artistic world concurs in this belief she little knows. 

All (Indian) baskets correctly may be classified under just two 
heads — baskets made to sell and baskets not made to sell. An expert 
in this line can detect the difference at ten feet ; even a novice will note 
it on slight inspection. It matters not what weave is employed, the 
most difficult or the coarsest, whether it be a basket of use or a gaudy 
ti, old or new, the counterfeit will expose itself to the initiated. Do 
not believe for a moment that a majella will furnish you goods of as 
fine a class as she makes for herself. She invariably infers you know 
nothing of quality, and charges in proportion to the breadth of your 
ignorance or length of your purse, maybe both. She is no fool ; for 
more than a whole generation she has been a pupil in our school of 
finance and deception. She has blood in her veins very similar to 
ours, else her complexion strangely misinterprets. Why not grant her 
the law-given privilege we have always enjoyed, of taking all she can in 
safety? However, you may depend upon it, though the price may appear 
exorbitant, you will get value received, if labor, eye-taxing labor, is 
taken into consideration. 

To a "basket crank" a salable basket possesses no attractions. 
Inferior material, faulty patterns, spaces between stitches, exposed ends 
of threads, each and all proclaim- carelessness, and when an unsymmet- 
rical outline is added to these, his cup of contempt overflows. Deteri- 
oration in basket excellence must be expected in the decadence of their 
makers. If there is any one cause more responsible than others for this 
inferiority it is the rapacity of the basket speculators. Four years ago, 
When the Mendocino Indian basket first made itself known and appre- 
ciated by lovers of the unique, a speculator came up from San Fran- 
cisco to investigate. Within a radius of six miles from Ukiah there 
lay five rancherias, and it is said by their inhabitants that this man 
bought, or rather pilfered, two thousand baskets during his brief stay. 
His ideas of barter were models and marvels of simplicity and effective- 
ness. Entering a native "shah" he would select whatever could be 
found to suit his taste, despite the loud protests of the owners, and 
what could not be purchased at his own price was seized upon as 
lawful plunder, and a few small coins thrown upon the floor left the 



228 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



only visible evidence of his unwelcome visit. His depreciations ex- 
tended north as far as Covelo, where fortunately his true merits were 
recognized and rewarded by the government agent, who promptly 
kicked him out of the reservation. These raids have been occasionally 
repeated with rapidly decreasing success. The Indian, after all his 
treasure has gone, has realized his own simplicity and cowardice. 

The lesson has proven severe, mentally as well as financially, for 
with those rare old family heirlooms the incentive to weave similar 
ones has disappeared. There are a few specimens in private collections 
of weaves once well known and much used by the Pomas that have 
now become obsolete. Of all this mongrel brood there are only seven 
"majellas" that still emulate the examples of their grandmothers in 
conscientious, skillful weaving. Work from their hands is altogether 
a different affair from baskets made to sell, being planned, woven and 
finished with but one object in view, personal use. These constitute the 
class referred to, baskets not made to sell, and hard indeed must be her 
straits before parting with them. A stranger never sees them; even 
confidence in those she knows and respects must be strong before her 
treasures are allowed inspection. 

Before you lies the subject most interesting to the majellas' mind, 
and, next to her animate children these beautiful products of care and 
patient labor are nearest her heart. Hold up this plate-shaped basket 
in a favorable light ; from bottom to rim a sheen of gold and purple is 
reflected like the plumage of some rare tropical bird. She calls it 
"doowy pekah," or moon basket. Surely the idea is pretty, and the 
effect consistent, though the colors may not be artistically correct. 
The greenish plumes of the summer duck are woven in so closely 
that no glimpse of the sustaining mesh can be seen, making a soft uni- 
form back ground for zigzag lines of the more brilliant woodpecker. 
All is blended like pigment from a deft brush ; the rim is encircled 
with a row of wampum, under whose snowy edges droop the pride of 
our valley quail. Pendants of strung beads tipped with polished bits 
of abalone shell complete the effect, and no suggestic\ ; needed by 
our imagination in finding their originals in the twinkle of stars. 

"How many ducks' heads are in this, Guadaloupe?" 

Nine fingers are extended in answer. 

"How many kartot (woodpecker) ?" 

Both hands are raised thrice and still two fingers more." 
In Fig. 69a on page 70 I have introduced a photograph of some 
girls of the Yokut nation, at the Tule River Reservation, California, 
whose parents have insisted upon their learning the art. As I have 
before remarked elsewhere, the young women and girls often refuse 
to learn, hence the art is rapidly dying out. But the mother of the 
three girls here shown, when I spoke to her upon the subject, said 
in effect : "No ! I don't want my girls to grow up ignorant of one of 
the arts that my ancestors learned in the years when the world was 
young. Too many young girls go wrong because they don't have the 
right kind of work. Mine shall learn to make baskets as I can. (And 
she, by the way, is one of the best weavers on the reservation.) These 
girls hold specimens of their own work, and some of their baskets I 
now have in my own collection ; they show care and a keen apprecia- 
tion of color and design. 



HOW THE ART MAY BE PRESERVED. 22 9 

CHAPTER XVI. 

HOW THE ART MAY BE PRESERVED. 

It would be a calamity to Indians and whites alike if the industrial 
art of basket making were allowed to die. Intelligent, concentrated 
effort can save it, and in its salvation a greater good can be done the 
Indians than by a century's distribution of rations and supplies. 
Let the Indian know that she must be self-supporting; let her know 
that every basket made according to her own highest traditions can find 
a ready market at a reasonable price ; let systematic efforts be made to 
encourage the mothers to teach their daughters, and the daughters to 
learn from their mothers ; teach meddlesome traders, teachers, and 
missionaries that true art does not consist in substituting gaudy ani- 
line colors for the Indians' own dyes ; teach the Indians themselves 
the worth of their own dyes and methods of work, and then let them 
receive just compensation for their labor, and the art will be saved. 

A friend of mine not long ago asked a lady missionary to the 
Indians if she encouraged her dusky flock in the work of basket mak- 
ing, and confessed herself almost paralyzed at the answer : "No, in- 
deed ! I never encourage them in any except the Christian arts." 

And this wise "saver of souls" then expatiated on the savins: power 
of delicate embroidery and such like work as compared ..-th the 
heathen .industry of basket making. The idiotic twaddle and sancti- 
monious nonsence of such people is too foolish for condemnation were 
it not that, to the undiscerning Indians, they represent the best elements 
of the white race. 

On every reservation ; in every school under the control of the 
government, arrangements should be made instantly to gather together 
all the old majellas and give them adequate compensation for teaching 
the young girls all the various branches of the art. The materials used ; 
the proper time to gather them ; the best methods of preparing them ; 
the various mineral and vegetable dyes ; the best mordants ; the various 
styles of weave ; the many and varied shapes ; the sources and origins 
of the wonderful diversity of design ; all these things should be taught. 
Then let intelligent white people study the subject and suggest im- 
proved methods of growing, harvesting and preparing the necessary 
material. Let scientific culture direct new methods of securing the 
permanent and beautiful colors of the native dyes ; and then leave the 
Indian alone to follow the bent of her own mind, as far as shape, de- 
sign and symbolism are concerned. It would not be long, were these 
suggestions carried out, ere there would be a revival of the art; a 
true renaissance, from which Indian and white would alike profit — 
profit in more important ways than the merely financial, good though 
that alone would be. 



23O INDIAN BASKETRY. 

CHAPTER XVII. 
HINTS TO THE COLLECTOR. 

In bringing my labors to a close, (which to me at least, have been 
exceedingly interesting) I shall be pardoned if I give a few more hints 
which may be useful to collectors in addition to those generally scat- 
tered throughout the work. 

Experience has long demonstrated that that collector who purchases 
his baskets from dealers is likely to be misinformed even as to the 
simplest matters regarding his acquisitions. And this is not to be 
wondered at. There are few dealers who have either the time, oppor- 
tunity or desire to personally study the weavers in their own homes. 
The field occupied by the basket weaver is a large one and it would 
require a lifetime to thus familiarize one's self with every detail. 
Hence, all the spirit of commercialism will allow the dealer to do is to 
gather as much lore as he can from those who collect the baskets for 
him, and retail it out to his customers with greater or lesser accuracy 
as his memory or imagination prompts. 

One great difficulty that often arises to confuse the young collector 
is what might be termed the "emigration" of the basket. As I have 
shown in writing of the so-called "Apache medicine basket," also 
known as the "Navaho Wedding basket," the basket is made neither 
by Apache or Navaho, but by Paiuti. It came into the hands of the 
former by trading. Yet it is often found in good collections -labeled : 
"Made by a Navaho," or "An Apache basket made in Southern Ari- 
zona," both of which labels are wrong and misleading. I have also 
found many Havasupai baskets, which, having been bought from the 
Hopi (or Moki) were labeled as belonging to and made by the latter 
people. 

Great care, therefore, must be exercised in determining the manu- 
facture of a basket. Let it be known (if necessary) from whom it was 
purchased, but at the same time, do not let the purchaser make the 
assumption that because it was purchased from a certain tribe it was. 
therefore made by that tribe. 

In the chapter on svmbolism I have shown the only true spirit that 
should possess the collector in gathering information in regard to the 
designs of desirable baskets. Go always to original sources for inform- 
ation. Don't inject your interpretation into the brain of the weaver, but 
let her tell you her own idea. This means patience and diplomacy, but 
the time and energy spent are generally well repaid. 

Discourage, wherever possible, the introduction of vicious elements 
into the art, such as those pictured in Fig. 274. Discourage the use 
of aniline dyes. The Indians would not use them did they not think 
white purchasers preferred them. On my last visit to the Havasupais 
I refused to buy any basket that bore any other than their own native 
colors. When brought to me I pointed to the strips or patches colored 
with native dyes and exclaimed "Ha-ni-gi" — good, but gave a frown- 
ing and emphatic "Ha-na-to-op-o-gi" — bad — to every intrusion of a 
foreign color. I know a few such lessons as this would remedy the 
evil among that people and I should be glad to know of similar dis- 



HINTS TO THE COLLECTOR. 2 3 l 

couragement offered elsewhere. Then again, it is well never to pur- 
chase a basket that is evidently made for sale only. Where the maker 
of a basket has a definite use for the work of her hands it means some- 
thing to her more than a mere money-getting proposition. Something 
of herself, her life, her thought, is put into that which she expects to 
use in her home life. Just as that expectant mother who sews upon 
the diminutive garments that are to clothe the little stranger upon his 
arrival adds more than mere stitches to the linen and woolen stuff, so 
does the Indian woman to the basket that is to form part of her house- 
hold equipment. A trained eye can generally tell, and keen fingers 
feel, the difference between a basket which has this personal factor 
connected with it, this sentiment, and the collection of mere coils and 
stitches which represents a certain number of dollars. In work, of the 
former character the individuality of the maker is more likely to be 
shown ; the mode of thought at the time of making the basket. It is 
thus that the symbolism of the design has meaning and reality. It 
reflects the mind and heart of the weaver at the time of its weaving. 
The result of this is that its decorations are purely Indian. They are 
not made to please white men; they are the expressions of the Indian 
women's thought, hence there are no letters or words or numbers or 
anything that denote a mere anxiety on the part of the maker to catch 
the eye of the prospective purchaser. This latter spirit means the 
degradation and ruin of the industry. Hence to the real collector 
everything that savors of the spirit of destruction of the art is religiously 
eschewed. 

The more the 'intelligent and conscientious collector studies his 
baskets the more they will mean to him. Question them and they will 
tell you many things. As you sit alone with them they will bring up 
pictures of forest, desert, canyon and village, where humble huts shelter 
simple and poetic people — people who are as yet "near to Nature's 
heart." They will tell you of art and religious aspirations and longings, 
of a Nation's struggling from the lower to the higher. They will 
reveal the steps of progress, and the methods followed by our own an- 
cestry as they evolved from savagery to civilization. Thus the student 
is led to a keener appreciation of the solidarity of mankind, and to a 
fuller apprehension of that doctrine, which, properly understood and 
lived, is to be man's salvation, viz. : The universal brotherhood of man- 
kind and the consequent fatherhood of God. 



232 INDIAN BASKETRY " 2" ' ' ' 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

KIBLIOGRAPHY OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 

BOOKS. 

AH I he Reports of the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, 
D. C. 

All the Reports of the Smithsonian Institution and the U. S. 
National Museum, especially "Basket-work of the North American 
Aborigines," by Otis T. Mason, Smith. Inst. Report, 1884. Part 2, 
pp. 291-306 and plates I to LXIV. 

"The Human Beast of Burden," by O. T. Mason, in Report of 
U. S. National Museum, 1887. 

"Primitive Travel and Transportation," by O. T. Mason, Report 
of U. S. National Museum, 1894. 

All the reports of the U. S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 

"Navaho Legends, by Washington Matthews, American Folk 
Lore Society. 

"The Thompson Indians of British Columbia," by James Teit, 
Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 2., part 4. 

"Basketry Designs of the Salish Indians," by Livingston Farrand. 
Ditto, Vol. 2., part 5. 

"Woman's Share in Primitive Culture," by Otis T. Mason. 

"The Beginnings of Writing," by Walter James Hoffman. 

"The Beginnings of Art," by Ernest Grosse. 

H. H. Bancroft's Histories. 

Journal of American Ethnology and Archaeology, Vol. 4. "The 
Snake Ceremonials at Walpi," by J. Walter Fewkes. 

"Old Missions and Mission Indians of California," by George 
Wharton James. 

"Ramona." by H. H. Jackson. 

"A Century of Dishonor," by H. H. Jackson. 
"Tribes of California," by Stephen Powers. 

JOURNALS, MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS. 

Scribner's Magazine, August, 1890. "The Baskets of Anita," by 
Grace Ellery Channing. 

The California Illustrated Magazine, October, 1892. "Among the 
Basket Makers," by Jeanne C. Carr. 

American Anthropologist, October, 1892. "A Study in Butts and 
Tips," by Washington Matthews. 

Overland Monthly, June, 1893. "Porno Basket Makers," by Dr. 
J. W. Hudson. 

American Anthropologist, October, 1893. "The Navaho," by A. 
M. Stephen. 

American Anthropologist, April, 1894. "The Basket Drum," by 
Washington Matthews. 

Harper's Bazar, September 1, 1894. "Indian Baskets," by Eliza 
Ruhamah Scidmore. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF INDIAN BASKETRY. 233 

"The Lost Art of Indian Basketry," by Olive May Peroival. Demo- 
rest's Family Magazine, P'ebruary, 1897. 

Journal of American Folk Lore, April-June, 1899. "Hopi Basket 
Dances," by Dr, J. Walter Fevvkes. 

The Traveler, San Francisco, Cal., August, 1899. "Symbolism 
in Indian Basketry," by George Wharton James. 

Harper's Bazar, Nov. 11, 1899. "Last industry of a Passing Race, ' 
by Ada Woodruff Anderson. 

San Francisco Chronicle, December 3, 1899. "The Art of a Passing 
Race." 

The House Beautiful, February, 1900. "Aboriginal Basketry in 
the United States," by Claudia Stuart Coles. 

American Anthropologist, April-June, 1900. "Basketry Designs of 
the Maidu Indians of California," by Roland B. Dixon. 

"The Hudson Collection of Basketry," by Otis T. Mason. 

Outing, June, 1900. "The Hopi Snake Dance," by George Whar- 
ton James. 

"Types of American Basketry," by O. T. Mason. Scientific Ameri- 
can, N. Y., July 28, 1900. 

The Evening Lamp, Chicago, 111., September 8, 1900. "Poems in 
Indian Baskets," by George Wharton James. 

The Cosmopolitan, October, 1900. "How Indian Baskets are 
Made," bv H. M. Carpenter. 

Brief reference to Indian Baskets in "Irish Letter" in Lady's Pic- 
torial, London, Nov. 3, 1900. 

The Outlook, January 12, 1901. "Indian Industrial Development," 
by Mrs. F N. Doubleday. 

"The Technique of Amerindian Basketry," by O. T. Mason. Paper 
read before the A. A. A. S., Baltimore, Dec. 27., 1900, and printed in 
American Anthropologist, January-March, 1901. 

The House Beautiful, April, 1901. "Indian Pottery," by George 
Wharton James. 

Outing, May, 190 1. "Indian Basketry," by George Wharton 
James. 

Good Health, June, 1899. "Industries of the Navahoes and Mokis." 

New York Tribune, Sunday, Dec. 9, 1900. "Hopi Basket Dance." 

Sunset Magazine, San Francisco, February, 1901. "Among the 
Mono Basket-Makers." 

Southern Workman, Hampton, Va., August, 1901. "Indian 
Basketry." 

Sunset Magazine, San Francisco, November, 1901. "With Some 
California Basket-Makers." 

The Chautauquan, September, 1901. "Indian Basketry in House 
Decoration." 

Literary Collector, New York, January, 1902. "Ideas in Indian 
Baskets." 

Ladies' Home Journal, 1902. "The Charmed Indian Baskets." 

P. S.— Since this book was written the Second Part of the Seven- 
teenth "Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology" has 
been received. In it Dr. J. Walter Fewkes has an elaborate and fas- 
cinating monograph in which the designs on the ancient pottery of 
Tusayan are fully described. The reader interested in Symbolism 
will find a rich treat and a fund of new information in this work. 



2 34 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



APPENDIX. 

The first edition of this book was issued in the latter part of April, 
1901. Before September the whole edition was exhausted and a second 
imperatively called for. I am glad, therefore, to seize the opportunity 
to add new and interesting material, both in illustrations and descrip- 
tions, that has recently become available. 

DIXON ON "BASKETRY DESIGNS OF THE MAIDUS"— 
In the April-June, 1900, number of the American Anthropologist 
there appeared an interesting article by Mr. Roland B. Dixon, entitled: 
"Basketry Designs of the Maidu Indians of California." These people 
are before referred to on page 57. By the courtesy of Mr. Dixon and 
the authorities of the American Museum of Natural History, where 




FIG. 309. FISH-TEETH. 



FIG. 310. EARTHWORM. 

the baskets enshrining these designs are exhibited, also of Mr. F. W. 
Hodge, the managing editor of the Anthropologist, I am herewith 
privileged to present to my readers the engravings and descriptions. 

Says Mr. Dixon : "In the series of forty baskets nearly two dozen 
different designs are used. For about twenty of these satisfactory 
explanations have been obtained up to the present, and these may be 
divided for convenience of treatment into three classes — animal de- 
signs, plant designs, and those representing objects such as arrow- 
points, mountains, etc. 

"One of the simplest and clearest of the many designs belonging to 
the first group is that known as fish-teeth (figure 309). The execution 



APPENDIX. 



23" 



of this pattern is rather irregular, and it is somewhat difficult to deter- 
mine whether it was intended to have the crossbars opposite each 
other or alternating. Looking at the basket from below, the resem- 
blance to the wide open mouth of a fish is rather striking. 

"A little less obvious in its meaning is the earthworm on a basket 
from the same locality as the last. In this (figure 310) the worm is rep- 
resented by a succession of parallelograms, linked together by the 
corners, to form a sinuous chain running around the basket. The 
separate parallelograms here are said to stand for the segments of the 
earthworm's body. 

''Of very frequent occurrence on baskets from Sacramento valley 
and the foothills is the design representing the quail (311). In this the 
characteristic feature is the plume on the quail's head, shown here 
by the vertical square-tipped appendices to the parallelograms which 
are meant for the bodies of the birds. The quail-plumes themselves 




FIG. 312. FLYING GEESE. 



are used at times in the decoration of the feather-baskets, being woven 
in while the basket is being made, and standing out all over when 
done. The use of the bird's plumes does not, however, seem to 
have been restricted to baskets which had the quail design. 

"Two other designs are representations of birds, the "geese flying" 
and the "duck's wing." One form of one of these designs (figure 
312 c) is apparently meant for a flock of geese in flight, their tri- 
angular order being well shown in the arrangement of the points of 
the design. The other two forms (figure 312 a, b), said also to be 
"geese flying," are not quite so clear as the first. That numbered 312 b 
is curiously like the quail pattern already described, except that the 
appendices are triangular instead of square; it is possible that these 



236 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



may refer to the feet of the goose seen just as the bird lights (?). The 
design known as the "duck's wing" (figure 313) is more or less doubt- 
ful in its meaning. It is said to signify the patch of white seen on 
each side of the bird. 




FIG. 311. QUAIL. 




FIG. 313. DUCK'S WING. 

"Very clear in their meaning are the designs representing the "thou- 
sand-legged worm" and the raccoon. The millipede or "thousand- 
legged worm" (figure 314) is shown by a broad band of solid color 
running in a zigzag around the basket and provided all along both 
edges with a great number of small triangles attached by short narrow 
lines, forming thus a sort of fringe. These are, as might be supposed, 




FIG. 314. MILLIPEDE. 



FIG. 315 RACCOON. 



PIG. 316. GRASSHOPPER 
LEG. 



the many feet of the millipede. The characteristic feature of the 
raccoon design (figure 315) is in the peculiar curve of the band of color 
which runs around the basket. This is said variously to stand for the 
stripes of the animal, or for the os penis ; in either case the intent of 
the pattern is clear. 

"Rather less realistic than the foregoing designs is the grasshopper 
pattern, found on a small basket from Genesee (figure 316). This 
might more properly be called the grasshopper-leg pattern, as this is 
the part of the insect which is represented. Apparently the longer 
bars are the legs, and the shorter bars at right angles to the former 
are the "feet" ( ?). Classed with the animal designs for convenience 
is the pattern known as the eye (figure 317). This is represented 
simply by a hollow rhombus or diamond. 



APPENDIX. 



237 



"Turning to the second group of designs, those representing plants, 
it is evident that here the number of different patterns is considerably 
less than in the first group. On a number of baskets is found a design 
of which the only explanation that could be obtained was that it was 
"just a flower." This design (figure 318) consists of rows of broad- 
based triangles, each row from the base to the top containing snccess- 




FIG. 317. EYE. 



FIG. 318. FLOWER. 



ively larger triangles. In the specimen figured the design is not 
perfectly regular, but the pattern is sometimes made with great regu- 
larity, and the triangles arranged in a kind of whorl, giving a curious 
effect when the basket is seen from below. The triangles here repre- 
sent the separate petals of the flower. 

'" "The common brake (Pteris aquilina) is represented by the design 
shown in figure 319 from a basket from Mooretown. The points in 
this are intended for the pinnae of the fern, but the meaning of the 
bars in the central stripe is not yet clear. Closely resembling this 
pattern is one from the Konkau (figure 320), but of this I have not 
been able to obtain a reasonable explanation. Very similar also is 
the design said to depict the vine (figure 321). In this the spiral 
character of the pattern as it winds around the basket is the twining 
of the vine about a pole, while the points are the separate leaves as they 
stand out on either side. 

"One of the most effective plant designs is that of the pine-cone, 
used by the, people of the higher Sierras. In this design (figure 322) 
the realism is quite marked, the broad, pyramidal form and the hori- 
zontally directed points being strikingly like the large and strong- 
spined cones of the digger and yellow pines. Although the digger 
pines grow in large numbers on the foot-hills, no specimens of this 
design were seen except in the higher portions of the mountains. 
What is apparently the same figure cut in two is represented around 
the upper edge of the large pack-basket on which the full design is 
shown. 

"Similar to the cone, but differing in that it has a solid center, is the 



2 3 8 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



pattern found-on a basket from Big Meadows (figure 323). This is 
regarded as the representation of a bush, growing high up in the 
mountains, and apparently rather rare, as I was unable to get a 
specimen to identify the plant. 

"Of the designs representing objects belonging to the third group 





FIG. 320. 



FIG. 319. BRAKE. 

into which the different patterns were divided, that of the feather is 
by far the most important. It seems to occur in several different 
forms. The simplest of these, perhaps, is shown in figure 324. The 




FIG. 321. VINE. 



FIG. 322. PINE-CONE. 



characteristic feature of the design appears to be the notched or saw- 
tooth edge, in imitation of an old custom of thus notching the arrow- 
feathers by burning. In figure 325 the design appears in a slightly 
different form, the notched "feathers" being arranged in points 
around the basket. A variation of this design is shown in figure 
326, where the interior of the point is filled with a somewhat elaborate 



APPENDIX. 



239 



pattern, and again in figure 327, where this interior pattern is different 
in each point. There is reason to believe that these isolated triangles 
are meant to represent flint arrow-points, a design which alone is 
very frequently met. The association of the arrow-point with the 




PIG. 323. A BUSH. 




FEATHERS. 



arrow-feather would not be an unnatural one, and till further evidence 
is forthcoming it may be considered that in the designs shown in 
figures 326 and 327 there is a combination of the feather pattern with 
the flint arrow-point. 

'"The flint arrow-point as it occurs alone is seen in figures 328 and 




FIG. 324. FEATHERS. 



329. The triangles which make up this figure are linked together in a 
way different from those making the feather designs, and the longer 
axes of the triangles or rhombuses are vertical instead of horizontal. 

"The simple circular band of color surrounding the basket is said to 
be a path or trail (figure 322). It does not seem to be of very frequent 
occurrence, and in all the specimens seen is a complete circle, without 
the gap so common on baskets and pottery from the Southwest, as also 
among some of the California tribes, of which the Yuki may be taken as 
an example. 

"A rather elaborate composite design representing mountains and 
clouds (figure 330) is shown on a basket from Big Meadows. Here 
the mountains are represented as a range in perspective, the short 



240 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



vertical lines being trees growing on the slopes. Above these moun- 
tains, and running all around the upper edge of the basket, is a zigzag 
line signifying clouds floating over the summits of the mountains." 

Mr. Dixon also states that "the knowledge of the designs is almost 
exclusively confined to the older women, the younger generation 
knowing only very few." 

That this is a fact all close observers know, and therefore it behooves 




PIG. 325. FEATHERS. 



FIG. 327. FEATHERS. 



those who are interested to work with greater energy than ever to 
obtain as speedily as possible the meaning of all existent designs. The 




FIG. 328. FLINT ARROWPOINTS. 



drive, rush, pressure and materialism of our modern civilized life is 
rapidly changing the character of the thought of the Indian. In the 
old days she had opportunity for quiet meditation upon the objects of 
nature to which her attention was arrested, but now the utilitarian 
(falsely so-called) and commercial spirit forced upon her afford little 
time for such cogitation. The new race of Indians, therefore, is grow- 
ing up as unpoetic, unsentimental and unromantic as their severest 
censors could wish, and only by the prompt adoption of such methods 
as I have elsewhere suggested can this evil condition be averted. 



APPENDIX. 2 4 X 

FEAR IN DESIGNS— Speaking of the zigzag design of one of his 
baskets, Mr. A. W. de la Cour Carroll says: "It has been said that 
the Indians do not imitate in their designs anything that creates fear 
within them. This is an error. These Indians (the Paiutis and Sho- 
shones) are much afraid both of lightning and snakes, and in the pho- 
tograph you see the lightning design (so explained to me by its weaver, 
the widow of the last chief of this district), and I have two or three 
baskets in which the diamond back rattlesnake and the long black- 
snake are shown." 




FIG. 329. FLINT ARROWPOINTS. FIG. 330. MOUNTAINS AND CLOUDS, 



SOUTH SEA ISLAND BASKET— In a letter received Sept. 20, 
1 901, a gentleman writes me: "While in Nantucket this summer I 
found in an old curiosity shop a basket brought to this country from 
the South Sea Islands by an old Nantucket captain who died forty 
years ago. The basket is of the weave and shape of your Fig. 104, 
page 105. It was ornamented around the edge with white rings (ivory?) 
like your Fig. 41, page 46, and there are also arrowhead patterns on 
the side done in these same white rings which were not sewed on, but 
carried on thread woven into the texture." 

CAHUILLA WEAVER— Fig. 331 is a pathetic picture to me. I 
made it some years ago in Cahuilla. To see this old woman almost 
helpless, halt, and slowly going blind, and yet anxious to work as long 
as she is able, is truly piteous, and it contains a lesson of sturdy inde- 
pendence that it would be well for many a white woman to learn. 
The old women are the only basket makers at Cahuilla, the young 
women preferring to do less laborious work even though it bring them 
less money. 

BENHAM COLLECTION— Fig. 332 is of a Pima weaver, brought 
by Mr. J. W. Benham from the reservation in Arizona to the Pan- 
American Exposition, in Buffalo, N. Y. Here she plied her awl and 
wove her baskets in front of a title hut, exactly as she does when in her 
native Arizona home. Thousands came and watched her dexterous 
fingers as they wrapped the willow splints around the grass of the inner 
coil, and saw the design worked in by means of the martynia or cat's 
claw. Object lessons of this nature are exceedingly valuable. They 
give opportunity for the gaining of definite and accurate knowledge of 
the Indian woman's skill, and demonstrate not only how perfectly the 
figures of designs are mapped out in her active little brain, but how 
easily she leads her fingers to compel the splints to reproduce that 
which she mentally imagines. It would be a good thing for art 
students, whether of the beaux arts, or the textiles, etc., to study a num- 



242 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




From the Southern Workman. 
PIG. 331. A CAHUILLA WEAVER. 



APPENDIX. 



243 




FIG. 332. PIMA WEAVER AT PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION. 




FIG. 333. PIMA BASKETS IN THE BENHAM COLLECTION. 



244 INDIAN BASKETRY. 

ber of such Indians as this engaged in their art work in their own 
simple, natural, untrained fashion. 

Fig. 333 is of six Pima baskets in the Benham collection. Here 
the geometrical designs predominate, only the one to the right having 
human figures. As I have before explained the weavers state that most 
of these meandering fret, zigzag, swastika and similar motifs have their 
origin in flowing water. 

Fig. 334 is of Apache baskets also in the Benham collection. Here 
the superiority of the Apache over the Pima weave is very evident. In 
the two baskets to the right a similar motif is presented in the design 
to many of the Pimas, viz., a central water reservoir from which streams 
flow out in various directions. 

The center basket is a fine large specimen of a shape dear to the 
heart of the Apache weaver. It used to be her granary in which she 
stored acorns, corn, grass or other seeds. It was large and commodi- 
ous and built for use and wear, consequently combines strength with 
its utility of form. As the esthetic instinct grew, the decorative prin- 
ciple demanded greater scope in the treatment of the designs, and 
simple bands gave place to more complicated and expressive symbols. 

Fig. 335 is a magnificent specimen of one of these Apache baskets. 
It stands about four feet high and contains many thousands of stitches. 
In shape it is almost perfect, and the designs are most striking, though 
I am unable to give the weaver's interpretation of them. The steps 
that ascend from the bottom are mountains, and the same design with 
the two descending lines upon them are mountains upon which the rain 
is falling. On either side of these the connected diamonds sometimes 
represent the rattlesnake. The upper band below the net-work design 
is the conventionalized mountain and valley pattern. 

In Fig. 336 are several fine Pima and Apache backets, belonging to 
Mr. Benham. These afford a fair comparison of the work of these two 
weavers. The three upper baskets are Apache, while all the others, 
except the center bottom one, (which is a Navaho Wedding basket, 
fully described in earlier pages of this book) are of Pima weave. In 
the former the circling and curved designs are the interesting feature. 
In the latter the "fret" and variations of the straight line are the basis 
of the decorative designs. 

Mr. Benham has called my attention to a method of his own in de- 
termining which are Pima and which Apache baskets. He says that in 
the examination of many hundreds made by these two peoples he has 
never known the sign to fail, viz., that in the Apache weave there is a 
ridge in each coil which denotes the presence of three splints of about 
equal thickness, while the Pima weave lacks this distinguishing mark. 

In Fig. 337 are various baskets in the Benham collection. No. 5 is a 
well made and colored Oraibi (Hopi) sacred meal tray, while No. 6 is a 
Mashonganavi (Hopi) yucca plaque of star design, most accurately and 
beautifully worked out. 

Fig. 338 is interesting mainly as it shows several striking designs on 
Oraibi (Hopi) wicker-work plaques. On the left is a distinct represen- 
tation of a Katchina, one of the totemic, ancestral divinities of the Hopi, 
to whom much of their worship is addressed. They might be termed 
"lesser divinities" of this people of many gods, for they do not hold so 
high a place in their regard as do the gods which personify the powers 



APPENDIX. 



245 




PIG. 331. APACHE BASKETS IN, THE BENHAM COLLECTION. 




PIG. '335. LARGE APACHE BASKET IN BENHAM COLLECTION. 



246 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 336. PIMA, APACHE AND PAIUTI BASKETS IN BENHAM COLLECTION. 




FIG. 337. VARIOUS BASKETS IN THE BENHAM COLLECTION. 




FIG. 338. BASKETS, MOSTLY ORAIBI, IN BENHAM COLLECTION. 



APPENDIX. 247 

of nature. Three other of these baskets in Fig. 338 represent the 
mythical thunder bird, a creature of whom Dr. Fewkes has written 
most interestingly in his recent monograph on Ancient Hopi Pottery, 
published in the Reports of the Bureau of Ethnology. 

The star design in the Mashonganavi plaque to the right is effective 
and well worked out. 

In Fig. 339 are seven Poma baskets, two of which are decorated Shi- 
Bu, whose glorious sheen can only be known to those who are familiar 
with the plumage of the birds robbed for their decoration, or who have 
bat and observed the changing lights as they made the basket catch 
different reflections of the sun's rays. The quail plume design of the 
front basket to the right is picked out in a somewhat unusual fashion, 
the plume being cut out, as it were, from the black, which gives the as- 
cending steps of a mountain range. 

DAT-SO-LA-LE — Fig. 340 is of Dat-so-la-le (whose name, I am 
told, is pronounced to rhyme with Charley, emphasis on the "la"), the 
Washoe weaver of The Emporium, Carson City, Nevada. She is 
engaged in the making of her basket, No. 24, a beautiful three-colored 
specimen, the design of which is purely Indian and beautifully poetic. 
On the top of the basket the homes of the Indians are represented; 
in the designs below are four different signs, representing nests and 
young and old birds flying. The meaning is : "When the birds and 
their fledgelings leave their nests and fly away the Indians will move 
to new homes." This basket contains over 50,000 stitches, woven thirty 
to the inch and occupied six months in the weaving. Of the basket to 
the right, at her feet, the following legend is given : The "tower"-like 
part of the design represents certain families and their descendants. 
The squares or parallelograms, with triangles on each side and darting 
rays top and bottom, represent certain sacred rites or degrees. Below 
these are seen four lozenges, which denote four chiefs. Dat-so-la-le 
explains that there are four chiefs of the Washoes who receive the 
four "degrees," or pass through the four stages of certain societies, 
ere they are recognized as of full power or authority, and that these 
four acquire this right of initiation by inheritance, only those de- 
scended from former initiates being eligible. This basket contains over 
45,000 stitches and is woven 29 to the inch. 

KERN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, WEAVERS— There are a 
number of fine basket makers in Kern County, California. No at- 
tempt, as far as I know, has yet been made to study these people to get 
at definite knowledge as to their tribal relationships. The baskets they 
make are of the Yokut type, and I doubt whether there is any real differ- 
ence in their manufacture, materials or designs. Dr. J. W. Hudson, 
whose admirable writings about the Pomas have been largely drawn 
upon in the preceding" pages, is now, at the present time of writing (end 
of September, 1901), gathering baskets and other Indian material from 
the aborigines of this county for the Field Columbian Museum, and 
there is reason to hope that he will ere long enlighten our ignorance 
by one of his luminous and carefully prepared monographs. 

McLEOD COLLECTION— Undoubtedly the best collection of 
Kern County baskets now in existence is that of Mr. E. ,L. McLeod, of; 
Bakersfield, Cal. With a keen love of the beautiful, Mr. McLeod has 
always been attracted by the charms of fine baskets, so, for many )ears 



248 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 339. CALIFORNIA BASKETS IN BENHAM COLLECTION. 




FIG. 340. DAT-SO-LA-LE, THE WASHOE WEAVER. 



APPENDIX. 249 

he has been adding to his store. Living in close contact with the Kern 
County Indians, he has had unusual opportunities for selection and 
choice, and the result is a collection that is at once the delight, envy 
and despair of all who see it. To merely catalogue his baskets would 
be to fill up many pages of this work. A score or more are really 
typical baskets and ought to have both pictorial and fully written de- 
scription, and, should the interest in the subject demand a third edition 
of my modest book, I hope I may be able to secure these for that edi- 
tion. 

One basket, however, of the McLeod collection has already been pic- 
tured and described in these pages (see Fig. 270, page 188). Another 
illustration of the same basket is also presented in Fig. 122a. 

This is one of the most interesting baskets I have ever seen. In 
color it is a rich cream, with the designs worked out in red and black, 
the whole mellowed by time into that indescribable but so real charm 
that only expert collectors can fully appreciate. It is 16 inches across 
and 9 inches high. The neck is 5 inches across. When Mr. McLeod 
first heard of it and saw it, it was being used as a water receptacle by 
its owner on Paiuti Mountain, Kern Co. For four years he visited its 
owner and endeavored to purchase it without avail. At last, succumb- 
ing to the dazzling vision of several handsful of silver spread tempting 
ly before her, the owner reluctantly parted with it. Before doing so, 
however, Mr. McLeod learned from her that the basket was made by a 
Christianized woman early in the last century. The priest had so pic- 
tured to her mind the life of Christ and the Apostles that she wove 
them into her basket. From Fig. 122a it will be seen that on the top 
there are thirteen human figures depicted, and that ten of these are 
in pairs, standing side by side. Then one figure is in a division alone, 
while the other two figures are together, one a little below the other. 
With an ingenuity that is striking in its simplicity and effectiveness 
the weaver thus placed Judas, the betrayer, in a solitary and separate 
place, while the beloved disciple, John, is with Christ but not equal to 
him, being placed a little behind him. 

Another interesting basket in Mr. McLeod's collection is a baby 
cradle, a type in itself. I purchased a similar cradle two years ago at 
the Tule River Reservation. It is simple and primitive, yet effective. 
A forked stick is found, with the arms of the fork extending some two 
or three feet from the fork itself, and gradually widening out. At the 
terminus of the two arms the sticks are about a foot and a half apart. 
Across these divided arms lesser sticks are placed and lashed to each 
arm. Upon these cross sticks peeled willow shoots are placed, twined 
around the topmost cross stick, and bound together by twenty-five 
cross stitches. Thus a rude carrying cradle is formed, which I have 
never seen elsewhere. 

Another basket that its owner prizes highly is a very old and dilapi- 
dated looking specimen, that none but the really scientific collector 
would be more than casually interested in. This is a very ancient 
specimen excavated from a cave in the Cuyama Valley, which is lo- 
cated between Bakersfield and Santa Barbara, Cal. It is made with 
tules for warp and a fibrous hemp for woof, and was lined inside and 
out with asphaltum. It is of the twined weave, with alternate bands 
where two splints instead of one are twined, as a decorative device. It 



2 5° INDIAN BASKETRY. 

is 15 inches high. When found it was entirely collapsed and out of 
shape and was only restored by the exercise of great care. As much 
barley was put inside as it would hold, and this was then soaked in 
water. How old the basket is none can tell, for there have been no In- 
dians in the region where it was found for fully fifty years. 

Another basket of Mr. McLeod's demonstrates the impossibility of 
any other than the weaver determining the meaning of the design. It 
shows a large number of St. Andrew's crosses radiating from the cen- 
ter of the basket. The explanation given by the Monos and Yokuts 
of the St. Andrew's Cross has already been given, but this weaver said 
she was imitating the flight of a flock of butterflies that came from the 
valley to tell her of the arrival of spring. And as the basket is held at 
a little distance and in the proper light the fidelity of the design to the 
object depicted is remarkable. There is a deep poetic pathos in this 
design. The old woman who made it lived about a hundred miles 
away from Bakersfleld, high up in the mountains in the forks of the 
creeks that go to make the Kern River. After a long weary winter it 
would seem like a glimpse of a new and beautiful world to have these 
butterflies come into vision, and, thankful for the joy the sight of them 
gave to her, the grateful woman thus expressed the inner emotions of 
her heart. So I see joy, gratitude and thankfulness in this design. 

But there is an added pathos in the fact that in August of 1901 a 
waterspout fell in the mountains above this poor old weaver's solitary 
hut, and as the torrents dashed down and met at the forks, the frail 
structure, with its inhabitant, was swept down the canyon, and thoflgh 
Indians and a few whites both searched, the body has never been 
found. Perhaps she is now enjoying many butterflies, in a land where 
flood and destruction are unknown. According to a careful estimate 
made, reckoning from the known dates of events in which she partici- 
pated, she must have been over 118 years old when the storm waters 
thus washed out her life. 

BRAIDED BORDER STITCH— It will doubtless be recalled 
what I have said about the "herring-bone" finishing stitch found on 
Navaho, Paiuti and Havasupai baskets. Mr. McLeod has a basket, 
bought at Lake Tahoe some years ago and made by a Washoe Indian, 
that has this same finishing stitch. This opens up the question as to 
whether the Washoe uses this stitch, and, if so, from whence did she 
obtain it, or, is it another instance of independent origin? Mr. A. 
Cohn of The Emporium, Carson City, writes me that there is a 
Washoe squaw now living who uses this braided finish. Mr. Benham 
also informs me that he occasionally purchases a basket from an Apache 
weaver who makes the same stitch. 

It is not at all unlikely that the Navaho tradition of the origin of this 
stitch locating its first usage with this people is, so far, correct. Ac- 
cepting this, it would be easy to explain its existence among all the 
other weavers. The Paiutis on the north, the Apaches on the south 
and the Havasupais on the west, all have dealings with the Navahoes, 
and their baskets are found interchangeably among- the three tribes. 
The Washoes and Paiutis are neighbors, in western Nevada, and it is" 
not at all unlikely that, some Washoe weaver, visiting her Paiuti sister, 
learned the art by watching the latter as she continued her work while 
gossiping with her visitor. 

Erom Mr. McLeod I learn that the Kern County Indians are mainly 



APPENDIX. 251 

Yokuts and Paiutis. The presence of these latter Nevada Indians in 
this region, so far away from their original habitat, has been already 
fully explained. The Yokuts originally possessed the land. They made 
a great rendezvous of Fort Tejon, both before and after its occupancy 
by the whites. 

MONACHI WEAVERS— Above Kernville, in Mountain Meadows, 
are a few Monachis, who are excellent basket weavers. To what 
tribe these belong I do not know. They may be Shoshones, Monos or 
Yokuts. Mr. A. W. De la Cour Carroll writes me of the Monachis 
being formerly on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada. He says 
"there is scarcely a Monachi left. This tribe used to make the 
Monachi Valley their summer hunting and fishing ground, but now 
there is not one family left." 

DIFFICULTIES 'iN COLLECTING— There are some people 
who funnily imagine that all those who collect baskets from the orig- 
inal weavers are after the type of the scoundrel described by Dr. Hud- 
son on page 227. The following letter may interest some readers and 
show to others that the Indians are fully alive to the value of their 
wares. A friend had purchased for me a basket from the wife of the 
chief of a California tribe. It was as yet unfinished. The price, fin- 
ished, was to be $10. One day he received this letter, doubtless dic- 
tated by the weaver and written by her son, a lad of some 13 years. I 
give its original spelling, etc. : 

"Dear Sir: I am gone to tell you of about the basket, the basket 
worth $15. He is little big. I put 1 inch more I think. I sell the 
basket $15.00. 

from yours." 
My friend refused to pay the $15, and a few days later another col- 
lector came along and gladly took it for $16. He writes: "You see 
that it is almost impossible to get a basket unless you stand right over 
it. The Indians will not set a price until they have finished a basket. 
Then the fellow who is there and will give the most gets it." This, of 
course, refers to finely woven baskets, some of which are almost as 
beautiful as any ever made. 

On this subject of "New versus Old" baskets, Mr. Cour Carroll 
says : "The old baskets are scarcely now to be had, but if of equally 
fine work I like the new as well, for time will bring the ripe desired 
tinge." 

This suggests that Mr. Cour Carroll has found in his experience, 
west of the Sierra Nevadas, what I have found among the Yokuts, 
Pimas, Apaches, Havasupais and Paiutis, viz., that there are still a 
few weavers who do as good work as ever was done. Few, indeed, 
these are, vet they do exist, as is further shown by the work of Dat-so- 
la-le. 

MONO WEAVERS — In the February number of "Sunset," pub- 
lished in San Francisco, I wrote of some Mono weavers and baskets. 
Here I found baskets of exquisite shape, color, weave and design, and 
by kind permission of the Southern Pacific Co., I am privileged 
to republish both illustrations, and descriptions. 

"Just below the Yosemite valley, east and south, a nation of abo- 
riginal basket-makers is to be found. One of the counties of Califor- 
nia, as well as a noted lake, are named after them — the Monos. Little 



252 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




PIG. 342. MONO FDOUR SIFTERS. 
In the Collection of George Wharton James. 




PIG. 344. MONO INDIAN MUSH BASKETS. 
(Collection of George Wharton James.) 



APPENDIX. 



253 



by little the lands owned by their ancestors have been stolen from 
them, and now they are driven in every direction higher and higher in- 
to the mountains. With an indifference to their rights that is very 
different from the passionate rebellion of such people as the Apaches, 
they have allowed themselves to be dispossessed of their homes, and 
have climbed away further from the white man. Doubtless the reason 
for this seeming indifference is to be found in the fact that there is 
plenty more valuable land in the higher Sierras which they can use for 
their simple pastoral wants. 

Not long ago I visited this people with a desire to see what could be 
learned of them before they entirely disappeared from the ken of white 




PIG. 343. MONO INDIAN BASKETS. 
(Collection of George Wharton James.) 

men. - Leaving the line of the Southern Pacific at Fresno, I drove up 
into the heart of the Sierras, past the great flumes and lumber yards 
at Clovis, where millions of feet of lumber annually are floated down 
from the mountain heights; past great vineyards; past sites made fa- 



254 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



nious by gold-hunters in the "clays of '49" ; up, and ever up, until a 
most beautiful and charming retreat was found in Burr valley. Here, 
once the home of the Fresno Indians, white men have planted apples, 
plums, pears, peaches and other fruit trees ; acres and acres are sown 
to grain, and, when I arrived, the clatter of the harvester and the hum 
of the thresher filled the whole valley with their welcome sounds. 

A few miles over the ridge, and the first of the Mono Indian ranch- 
erias was found. Perched on the steep sides of a mountain, near a 
spring, the little cluster of huts was observed as we approached over 
the ridge. Houses of rude lumber, not much larger than good-sized 
dry-goods boxes, with here and there a "ramada," or shack of brush- 




FIG. 345. MONO INDIAN BASKETS OP RATTLESNAKE DESIGN. 

wood, formed the dwelling-places of these people. The major portion 
of the inhabitants were gone into the San Joaquin valley to cut 
peaches and pick grapes, so our investigations here were somewhat 
limited. 



APPENDIX. 255 

The following day, however, we pushed along over the mountain 
sides, down into a shut-in valley, and then on and up, over steep and 
difficult trails until a large settlement was reached. Here we were in 
the veritable home of the Monos. They are seldom visited, and white 
people are a rarity. Here we spent several days, watching the Indians 
at their crude farming, grinding of acorns, preparing the meal, making 
"bellota," or as they pronounce it, "viota" or acorn bread, peeling the 
roots for basket-making, dyeing the strands, and finally making the ex- 
quisite basket-work for which they are justly famed. 

Watch one of the women at work, pounding acorns. It is not an 
easy task. The "pounder" is a heavy piece of granite, and the "mor- 
tar'' is a hole hewn out of a great granite boulder that rests under a 
tree. The shade is grateful, for the sun is hot and the work arduous. 
Raising the pestle as high as her arms can reach the woman brings it 
down with great force upon the acorns until she deems them pounded 
enough. Then the meal is placed in the sifter, a peculiar shell-shaped 
piece of basketry, (see Fig. 342,) and that part of the meal that is not 
fine enough goes through the pounding process anew. 

Now the meal is prepared, but before it can be used for food it must 
be so treated that the horribly bitter and strong taste will be taken 
from it. A large bowl-shaped cavity is made in the sand or gravel, 
and in this is placed a piece of canvas or cloth of some kind to act as a 
strainer. The acorn meal is now well mixed with water in which a lit- 
tle lye has been placed. This mixture is then poured into the canvas, 
and, as the water seeps away, the acorn meal is left in a kind of mushy 
state, but much nearer to food than it was before. This paste is 
thrown into baskets, large and beautiful specimens of their labor. 
When enough moisture has evaporated to permit, the paste is cut up 
into short strips, placed on canvas, boards, or anything that will an- 
swer the purpose, and put out into the sun to dry. 

One would think by this time it would be ready for use. Not at all. 
It has to undergo two more processes before it can be eaten. First, it 
must be pounded again into meal. Then it needs to be cooked. A 
large fire is made. Into it are cast a large number of good-sized 
stones. While they are becoming heated, the acorn flour is mixed 
with water and well stirred with a peculiar-looking stick, one end 61 
which has been bent to form an oval loop. 

You wonder what the loop is for, and your curiosity is soon satis- 
fied ; for, with dexterous movements, the woman uses this looped stir- 
ring-stick to pick up a red-hot rock from the fire and convey it to the 
basket where her mixture of acorn meal and water stands. Hissing 
and sizzling, the rock drops into the basket, and the stick is now 
used with vigor to stir the liquid. Another and another heated rock 
is brought, and by this time the thin, watery gruel is changed into a 
cooked, glutinous, thick mush. This is poured out into another bas- 
ket, or, after the rocks are taken out, is allowed to remain in the cook- 
ing basket, and it is now ready to be eaten, or to undergo further proc- 
esses. If it is to be made into bread it is again dried, again pounded, 
and then is mixed with water, as ordinary flour, made into small cakes 
and baked on heated stones. But to the white man it is a poor and 
disagreeable substitute for his own wheat bread, although to the 
Monos it is, perhaps, their staple article of diet. 

To gather the acorns and transport them over the steep mountain 



250 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




Photo by George Wharton James. From the Southern "Workman. 
PIG. 346. .THE HILL COLLECTION. 



APPENDIX. 257 

trails is no easy task, and this is entirely the work of the women. 
With a large carrying basket, shown in the frontispiece illustration, and 
the basket to the left in Fig. 343, the patient and hard-working "lady" 
of the household will carry a load ten or a dozen miles, heavy enough 
to stagger many a hearty and stout-looking man. 

To call this Indian woman a lady seems strange and out of place, 
I know, does it not ? And yet, do you know, the term is absolutely 
appropriate and true. For, are you aware — and I give John Ruskin 
as my authority — that a lady is a laf-dig — loaf-maker or provider ; she 
who makes the loaves for the household? The Mono woman, there- 
fore, in the original and true sense, is a real lady, and, as such, should 
be honored and respected. 

Few people on looking at one of these women would recognize an 
artist, a poet, a profound religionist. And yet she is all these. On page 
54, fig. 48, the woman from whom I bought four baskets is pictured. 
The basket she holds is a beautiful creation. The colors of many of 
these bottle-necked designs are as harmonious and pleasing to the 
most cultured chromatic taste as the finest dress made under the di- 
rection of Worth, and the weaving is as regular and perfect as if clone 
by machinery. In shape, too, it is artistic, symmetrical and perfect. 
It was made to be a little household treasure basket, and the design is 
an embodied prayer. 

After I had purchased this and the weaver sat looking at it with re- 
gretful longing that her necessities were such that she was compelled to 
part with it for the white man's money, I could imagine her thoughts 
lifted to Those Above that they would not deem her sacrilegious in sell- 
ing that which she had intended as a perpetual prayer." 

One of the baskets of Fig. 48 is now in the Wanamaker collection 
and is pictured in the article entitled : "What Baskets Are to the In- 
dian," which appeared in Everybody's Magazine for November, 1901. 
It will also be observed in the frontispiece of this volume. The design 
is of the diamond-backed rattlesnake, the commonest of Mono designs, 
and dancing Shamans, or Medicine Men. The weaver told me that 
the diamond design is a prayer of propitiation to the powers that con- 
trol the rattlesnake, which abounds in the region, so that her husband, 
her children and herself may not be bitten as they wander to and fro 
in the snake-infested districts. 

On the upper basket of the frontispiece several flowing streams are 
depicted in the zigzag-s below the rattlesnake pattern, and, standing 
above each zigzag to the left, is the conventionalized form of the quail 
plume. This informs the beholder that there are plenty of quail to be 
found near these streams. 

The carrying baskets represent the conventional design for hills and 
valleys, the steep mountain summits of the "Sierra" — the Saw Teeth — ■ 
being intended. Another conventional design pictured on the second 
basket from the right in Fig. 344 represents hills and valleys lower 
down in the mountains, where valleys are broader and hills not so 
pointed. 

In the basket to the right of Fig. 345 the rattle of the rattlesnake is 
represented. The small basket in front in Fig. 343 is especially interest- 
ing to the collector. The woman from whom I purchased it informed 
me that it was made by her grandmother, hence it must be very old, 
oossibly a century or more. It represents water flowing down the 



2 5 8 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 348. ALEUT BASKETS IN THE PROHMAN COLLECTION. 



259 

APPENDIX. 



steep slopes of a mountain, the latter represented by the steps, on 
wS a-plenty of quail, represented by the n-d plume, one of the 
common and most beautiful des lg ns of the Sierra Nevadas 

THE HILL COLLECTION-Fig. 346 >s a portion of ^ coUec 
tion of the daughter of Thomas Hill, the well-known artist of the Yose 
mi e Valley Here is quite an interesting variety and they add no n 
on iderabfe element o? attraction to Mr. HdFs always attractive , stu- 
dio at Wawona. The largest basket, perched high 1% the <*>™f' 
one of the carrying baskets. Its s- an capacity c. „ be t be^ 

d ^d^ tTth 6 /!,^ SSiparff e ^ing capacity of the 

%'^ ltd' ^^SS^^S^Z^ 

^th ma^hS j" woulo have Sed to'push Sbarrow 

who regard the Indian as ^capable note • 

^op fe^-Ck 1 nS^ cached 
plaque baby cradles h f , r.nket b as ^ ^ 

rhfsierrfN^dVr^ou^and were woven by Yo-han,-i-ties, Monos, 
Y VOKnT ANDHMA NAMES-Ou the Tule River Reservation 

th wTTER SoTTLES-A n Nevada correspondent writes to me in re- 
garXe^p^ 

thus kept upright when no; ^ earned^ H ^ ^ ^ 
Indians tell me that it is m a p whde ^ of [ts 

tal1 ; 1 : m wlte" is "le of the scarcest y things & on the Nevada desert, 
contents. Water . one^ ^ sh basket , d when 

Or F e R ° ffiS^H, if the baskets of the North- 



260 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 



349. ALASKAN BASKETS/MADE fN YAKUTAT ISLAND, IN THE 
PROHMAN COLLECTION. 



APPENDIX. 



26l 



west. In her collection are to be found all the varieties, and the ac- 
companying" engravings give some idea of the scope of her endeavors. 
Fig. 348 shows a number of Aleut baskets, and Mrs. Frohman writes 
as follows : 

"The Aleutians are from the Islands of Attu, Kesega, Makushin, 
the most remote and isolated of our possessions. In these little sea- 
girt islands, scarcely more than a stepping-stone to Asia, we discover 
the finest weavers in the world of basketry. The barabas or homes of 
the Aleuts are sodden huts, for they are literally made of sod. The 
roof is gay with brilliant flowers during the long days of their brief 
summer, but in winter.it is inconceivably damp and dreary in the in- 
terior of the barabas, and it requires many months of scanty light to 
construct a single basket. Luxuriant grass springs up while the sun- 
shine lingers, and this is gathered, dried and split many times. The 
finest baskets are perfectly round, having covers, holding about a pint, 
and others much larger, have no covers, are round and not so fine. 
The weave of the small ones is so fine as to closely resemble gros grain 
silk, the number, of stitches to the scpiare inch being almost double 
that of any other Indian basket. No dyes are used and only a little or- 
namentation of colored silk thread or worsted is deftly introduced. 
The feather of the eagle is also sometimes interwoven with each stitch. 
Many of these Indians have died off in the last year and only a few of 
a once flourishing tribe are left. Measles and whooping cough cleaned 
out entire villages, and Aleutian Island baskets will soon be a thing of 
the past." 

In Fig. 349 are seen a large variety of Alaska baskets in the Froh- 
man collection. They are mainly made on Yakutat Island and are of 
great beauty. The shape is unvaried, being round, rarely flaring, but 
of many sizes. Spruce roots and grasses in the dull natural green or 
dyed brown and black were originally used. But the Indian of to-day 
loves not the labor of securing her own inimitable dyes, but she does 
love color, so she substitutes the easily-obtained aniline dyes. Hence 
happy is that present day collector who can find a basket of this type 
in the original lovely old browns over which the genuine connoisseur 
raves and rhapsodizes. t 

Many of these baskets are of a small size, convenient for the holding 
of household or personal treasures, and they are provided with lids. 
It is a quaint conceit to place pebbles in a most skillfully constructed 
hiding place within the lid. The rattle of these gives warning to the 
owner when any one would purloin the treasure. 

Fig- 35° i s °f baskets made in Northern California by weavers 
colloquially known as "Shaveheads." These Indians indulge in the 
singular custom of shaving off their hair and thus gain the name. 
Their baskets are well made and some of them have very striking 
and interesting designs. In the illustration Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are 
burden baskets. All the remainder are ordinary baskets except No. 
6, which is a handsome gambling plaque. Considerable artistic taste 
is shown both in the variety of forms and the great diversity of designs. 

The three front baskets in Fig. 351 are highly prized specimens in the 
Frohman collection. The one to the left is a beautiful old Yokut bot- 
tle-neck, and the design clearly indicates a dance. The one to the 
right is of the rattlesnake design, and both are bordered with quail 




FIG. 350. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BASKETS IN FROHMAN COLLECTION. 




FIG. 351. FINE YOKUT BOTTLE-NECK, KLIKITAT, HAIDA, AND ALEUT BASKETS 
IN THE FROHMAN COLLECTION. 




FIG. 352. POTLACH HATS OF THE HAIDAS, IN THE FROHMAN COLLECTION. 



APPENDIX. 2t> 3 

plumes. The center basket is a Klikitat, known to be 75 years old, 
of perfect weave and design. . . 

Fig 352 shows several interesting old Haida hats similar to the 
one described on page 183, and pictured in Figs. 265 and 266 lhese 
are Potlatch hats made by the older generations of the Haidas, and 
were and still are worn in dances. The making of them is now a lost 
art The present generation know nothing whatever of making them. 
Each one is painted with the totemic design which represents the 
tribe to which the dancer belongs. The two lower ones are Bella 
Bella Siwash hats, worn by British Columbia Indians. 

Fig 3S3 represents two Klikitat weavers and a number of their 
baskets in the Frohman collection. Of this weave and its people Mrs. 
Frohman sends me the following, which supplements the information 

p-iven on page 53 : , , ,•,■«■ L -u 

"These rare and beautiful baskets are made by the different tribes 
belonging to the Shahaptian linguistic stock. The derivation is Sali- 
shan Their habitat was along the waters of the Columbia and its 
tributaries, from the Cascade Mountains on the west to Bitter Root 
range on the east, or what is now eastern Washington and Northern 

"Trie Klikitats have been styled the 'Iroquois of the Northwest.' 
They were marauders and robbers. The very word Klikitat means 

robber. \ r 'a 

"Two of their favorite haunts in times gone by were the Cascades 
and The Dalles or long narrows of the Columbia. They were a con- 
stant menace to the trappers and voyagers from the foundation of the 
Pacific Fur Co. in 181 1, and continued to worry the pioneers until they 
were subdued bv the Yakima war of 1856. 

"They went down to the ocean on the west, carrying the wild hemp, 
dried and twisted into neat bundles. This was much sought after by 
the coast Indians for fish net, and they gladly gave m exchange their 
wampum or dentalia, a small shell collected in those days at Nutka. 
The wampum was the money or circulating medium, and Alexander 
Ross said in 1814 three fathoms of it bought ten beaver skins. 

"When the Klikitats procured firearms, bows and arrows were soon 
out of date and making beautiful arrow heads became a lost art. 

"So also when buckets superseded baskets, basket making to them 
became almost a lost art." 

A description of the materials used is found on pages 76, 77. 

Now Mrs. Frohman: "After these preliminaries, that ran through 
weeks and months, were arranged, the weaver seated herself upon the 
ground either by a spring or stream and began to work by taking a 
small bunch of these water-soaked roots which, when tightly com- 
pressed were about the size of a lead pencil. She began at the bottom 
of a basket by making a coil and tightly lashing it with a soaked thong 
of spruce root, each time piercing the stitch in the preceding row with 
the bone awl, threading the spruce through, and tightly drawing it 
in place. She thus succeeded in making a lockstitch, water tight, so 
that if it were possible to draw out the coil the basket would still pre- 
serve its shape. This coiling and whipping continued with the spruce 
alone until the bottom was completed, for the ornamentation seldom, 
if ever, appeared on the bottom. When the last coil of the bottom was 
made 'then the ornamenting or decorating began. A strip of the grass 



264 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




FIG. 354. SKOKOMISH BASKETS IN FROHMAN COLLECTION. 






PIG. 355. THOMPSON RIVER AND OTHER B. C. BASKETS IN 
THE PROHMAN COLLECTION. 




PIG. 336. BABY BASKETS IN FROHMAN COLLECTION. 







FIG. 357. BASKETS OF 20 DIFFERENT WEAVES IN FROHMAN 
COLLECTION. 



266 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 



was laid on and lashed in place, then turned back and lashed again, each 
time being held in place by the all-important spruce thong. This lap- 
ping back and forth gave it the name "imbricated." Every time a 
stitch was made it took the circuits of the spruce whipping to hold it 
in place, each time following the puncture made by the awl. This 
renders it exceedingly hard work, one round of a large basket or three 
of a small one being considered a hard day's labor for an experienced 
basket maker. 

"The figures of the designs are always triangular or angular, never 
round, in the original shapes, as to the Klikitats the circular figure 
mean civilization. The baskets are always round and are carried 
on women's backs by a broad strap passed around the forehead or 




FIG. 35S. CALIFORNIA BASKETS IN FROHMAN COLLECTION. 



across the chest. When gathering berries the woman throws them 
over her shoulder into the basket. The Indians say the berries keep 
sweeter in these baskets, and as they are water tight there is no loss of 
juice." 

On Clatsop Plains, in Oregon, there resides Mrs. Machelle, the last 
of the Clatsop tribe, nearly ioo years old, who still occupies herself in 
weaving baskets. Says Mrs. Frohman, in speaking of her work : 
"One cannot fail to be impressed by the rare and skillful combination 
of beauty and utility in these baskets, and their wonderful adaptability 
to the Indians' various needs. The dwellers of the North Coast ob- 
tain their food from the sea, so the weavers make a loosely woven 
cedar bark receptacle for their fish, both fresh and dried. The open 
mesh of the clam-basket, of a coarse grass, permits the sea water to 
escape as the weary digger trails home across the sands at dawn." 

Another of the weaves that is growing rarer as the years go by is 



APPENDIX. 267 

that of the Skokomish, barely referred to on page 53. These Wash- 
ington weavers have gradually decreased in number until now the 
tribe is almost extinct. A fine specimen in the National Museum is pic- 
tured in Fig. 78, and in Fig. 354 are four others in the Frohman col- 
lection. On all of these specimens will be noticed what might almost 
be called the sign manual of the Skokomish, viz., the circle of dogs on 
the upper part of the basket. No matter what other design is incor- 
porated into their work, this symbol invariably is used at the top. 
This fact opens up an interesting field for investigation which it is to 
be hoped some local enthusiast will later explore. 

Of the few good Skokomish weavers left, Sarah Curly is said to be 
the best, and she will work only when the weather is damp and rainy, 
as she says otherwise her grasses crack and split. 

Fig. 355 shows several fine Thompson River baskets, similar to 
those described on pages 79 and 147. These are interesting specimens, 
varying in shape and design, but all useful and attractive. 

In Fig. 356 are a number of baby baskets made and used by the 
Warm Springs Indians, Oregon. 

The baskets of twenty different Indian peoples are represented in 
Fig. 357, this being a portion of the Frohman collection, while Fig. 358 
shows California baskets, mainly of the Yokut types. Fig. 359 is a 
most interesting glimpse of a portion of the same collection, in which 
there are many fine baskets of a variety of weaves. 

GATHERING INFORMATION— Those who are interested in 
the preservation of accurate knowledge of Indian baskets and their 
weavers can do good service in their respective localities by recording 
such particulars as the following blank calls for, verifying the answers 
given by one weaver by comparison with those given by others. Only 
by persistent endeavor can reliable information be obtained. The 
blank is one prepared and sent out by Professor Mason, of the Smith- 
sonian Institution, to whom lovers of basketry owe so much. 

BASKET WORK OF AMERICAN INDIANS. 

Tribe , Location of Tribe 

Plant, 

Scientific name 

Common name 

Indian name 

How prepared 

How woven 

Legend 

Specimen in Collection of 

In addition to these particulars I always endeavor to obtain the 
name, Indian and American, of the weaver, and her photograph where 
possible, either while weaving the basket or when it is completed. 
This photograph should always include the material used and the tools, 
and the actual processes of weaving. For instance, the Hopi weavers 
invariably place their splints in a blanket full of moist sand, in order 
to keep them pliable. It adds much to the scientific value of the pho- 
tograph if this sand blanket is shown. 



258 



INDIAN BASKETRY. 




•APPENDIX. 



269 



Then, too, the greatest care should be exercised in obtaining the 
tribal name of the weaver. The Yokuts have a number of sub-tribal 
names, and one is apt to get confused, unless he is persistent in ques- 
tioning and requestioning, directly and indirectly, oil this particular. 

Under the head of "How Prepared," much valuable information can 
often be obtained. The gathering of the material as described by Dr. 
Hudson on pages 80-81 ; the stripping of the bark, or splitting up of the 
willow, how done, and a description of the tools used, if any, (see page 
85) ; the dyeing processes for the different colors, especially where na- 
tive dyes and processes are followed; the materials used in the ex- 
traneous decoration of such baskets as the "moon" and "sun" baskets 
of the Pomas ; all these legitimately come under that head. 

Then, too, careful attention to the methods of weaving may often re- 
veal interesting facts. I am told that there are three different methods 
of procuring- the "herring-bone" or braided finishing stitch of the 
N avah o wedding basket. Some use three splints, others two, and still 
others but one, and yet to the casual observer there is not the slightest 
perceptible difference in the result. 

The importance of gaining the weaver's own interpretation of the 
legend cannot be too strongly emphasized. A short time ago a friend 
purchased a beautiful basket and brought it to me in New York. She 
knew the weaver well, a Cahuilla Indian, the wife of Juan Costello, 
but had not herself secured the meaning of the design. At her sug- 
gestion I wrote to a gentleman, who kindly visited the camp for the 
purpose of gaining the information. I quote his reply in full as an 
interesting confirmation of what I have before written : "My ques- 
tions of the Indians at the time of the receipt of your letter happened 
to be directed to an old woman at Juan's camp, who, I thought, was 
the maker. She, who was his mother, told me, through Juan's inter- 
pretation, that it was patterned after some rock form on the desert side 
of the San Jacinto Mountains; it is doubtful if she understood my 
query or I her answer. To-day I went to the camp and did my best 
to learn from Juan's wife, by the use of my limited Spanish and the 
chary use of English of her little girl, more about it, expecting the 
same information. She drew figures upon the ground of the leaves of 
what she called 'mescal,' idealized, for they did not have the broad 
base and point of the plant she referred to. I called her attention to 
some plants along a road we knew, the Agua Americana, four of which 
are just now maturing gigantic flower stalks, and this plant was what 
she meant, and the girl, said her mother, not the grandmother, made 
the basket you refer to. It is a little odd, isn't it, that they apply the 
name of the distilled product of the juice, 'pulque,' to the whole plant, 
but 'mescal' was the name used for it. You can take your choice of 
the answers obtained, but I think the leaves of what we call the 'Cen- 
tury plant' was the model for her design." 

This is undoubtedly the proper interpretation, as "mescal" is the 
word commonly applied by all the Indians of the Southwest to this 
plant, also to a food which they prepare from the cooked leaf fibres. 



INDEX. 



Page. 



Achindi , 

Acomas 

Acorn Sifter 

Acorn Storehouses 

Agave 

Agua Americana 

Agua Caliente 61, 211, 

(See Warner's Ranch.) 

Agua Caliente Baskets 60, 213, 215, 

Alaska Indians 50, 

Alaska Baskets 52, 77, 

Aleuts 50, 75, 258, 

American Anthropologist 187, 232, 

American Museum of Nat. History, 

167, 218, 234. 

Amole (See Yucca) 84 

Angola Carrying Basket 183. 

Antelope Altar, etc 94, 175, 213, 

Antiquity of Baskets... 

Apaches, 50, 59, 61, 63, 72, 107, 110, 116, 

160, 166, 172, 175, 213, 214. 
Apache Baskets, 32, 76, 85, 106, 129, 135, 

166, 173, 177, 204, 209, 211, 214, 244, 

Apache Medicine Basket 37, 

Apache Designs 

Apocynum 

Arapaho 

Arikara 153, 

Arrow Feathers 

Arrow Points 174, 179, 215, 239, 

Artifact Designs 

Ashochimi 

Athaatio 

Athapascan 59, 72, 157, 

Attu Island 50, 

Awl 



Ill 

89 
144 
1S6 
15S 
269 
213 

216 
123 
212 
261 
234 
63, 

85 
184 
215 

13 
135, 

157, 
245 
109 
.218 
.160 
.185 
155 
238 
241 
.215 
..57 
..37 
167 
261 
..85 



B 

Baby Cradles 23, 146, 149, 150, 151, 265 

Balfour, Mr. Henry 200 

Bamboo 74 

Bam-tca Weave 103 

Bam-tsu-wu Weave 102, 103, 104 

Bam-tush Weave 95, 96, 97, 101 

Basketry in Indian Ceremonial 33 

" " " Legend 22 

of the Northwest 77 

the Mother of Pottery 17 

the Work of Women 14 

Basket Church 186 

Forms 119 et seq., 145, 210 

" Making People 50 et seq. 

Symbolism 187 et seq. 

Baskets to be Prized 224 

Battle Design 216 

Bat Woman 24 

Bat Design 217, 222 

Beads 74 

Bear Design 212 

Bee Design 211 

Bella Bella Si wash Hats.. 263 

Bellota 255 

Benham Coll 241 et seq. 

Bibliography 232 

Big Meadows 238, J39 

Bilhoolas 183 

Bird-cage Weave 156, 181 

Bird Design 141, 142, 183, 211, 215 

Blank to Fill up 267 

Boas, Dr. Franz 72 

Boiling Baskets 162, 163 

Bottle-neck Baskets 189 

Bourke, Capt. J. G 218 

Braided Border Stitch 250, 269 

Brake Design 212, 213, 237 



Page. 

British Columbia Indians 51, 53, 147, 263 

Buchanan, Charles M. 189 

Bullrushes 80 

Burden Baskets (see Carrying B.) 

Burnell Collection 64 

Bush Design 212 

Butterfly Design ..211, 250 

G 

Cabazon 61 

Cactus 75 

Caddoan Indians 153, 155 

Cahrocs 53, 100 

Cahuilla 41, 61, 64, 89, 157, 206, 210, 241, 242, 
269. 

Baskets, 60, 71, 73, 145, 172, 173, 174, 
190, 211, 212, 215, 216, 217, 222. 

Calfee, Miss Frances S 67 

California Baskets, 74, 117, 118, 119, 129, 139, 

140, 144, 151, 159, 190, 248 et seq. 
Campbell CoU....21, 59, SO, 107, 207, 211, 213, 
224. 

Campo 61 

Cape Flattery .51, 185 

Capitan Grande 61 

Carr, Mrs. Jeanne C 14, 88, 105, 149 

Cardium Corbis 90 

Carex Mendocinoensis 80 

Carrier Indians 157 

Carroll, A. W. De La Cour 209, 251 

Carying Basket 145, 185, 259 

Mats 163, 165, 166 

Nets 158 

Cascade Mtns 79, S3 

Cascades 263 

Cat-tail 80 

Caulking 74 

Cayuses 79 

Cedar 79, 80, 149 

Century Plant Design 269 

Cercis Occidentalis 75, 83 

Ceremonials 33 

Chaco Canyon 25 

Channing, Grace Ellery 146, 225 

Chemehuevis ,.50, 66, 67, 212 

Cherokees 91 

Cheyennes 93 

Chevelon 63 

Chilcotin 79 

Chinooks 51 

Chippa 75, 83 

Choctaws -. 154, 155 

Christ and Apostles Basket 249 

Chuc-chances 59 

Clallams Ill, 125, 155-6, 178, 181, 183, 184 

Clam Shells 90 

Clatsop Weaver 266 

Clay Vessels 18 

Clement, Mrs 91 

Cloud Design 213, 239 

Cohn, Mr. A 250 

Coiled Weaves (see Weaves) 

Coles, Mrs. S. C 193 

Collecting 251 

Collector, Hints to 230 

Collections 

Benham (See). 

Campbell, W. D. (see) 

Frohman (See). 

Hill (See). 

James, G. W. (see) 

Mabley, Miss Kate U 

McLeod 188, 210, 224 

Plimpton, F. S. (see) 

Salsberry, Mrs. N. J., 190 

Wainwright, Dr. C. C 221 

Wilcomb 100, 224 



INDEX (CONTINUED). 



271 



Page. 

Colors, Accursed 95 

Colors in Baskets 88, 124, 130 

Congo Basket 161-2 

Conventionalization 197 

Corn Leaf Design 213 

Coronado 61, 166 

Costello, Juan 269 

Coville, F. V 85, 158 

Cowlitz (see Kowlitz) 

Cradles 146, 149, 150, 151 

Cradle 249 

Crescent City 53 

Cross 192, 200, 209, 210, 216 

Curly, Sarah 267 

Curio, The, Phoenix 280 

Curtis, Rev. W. C 1»9 

Cushing, F. H., 17, 19, 61, 120, 121, 163, 187, 
191, 197, 203, 204, 224. 

Cuyama 249 

Cuyapipe 61 

D 

Dah-lah 101 

Dalea Emoryi 84 

" Polyadenia 84 

Dalles The 263 

Dat-so-la-le.'.'.'.62,' 115,' ' lie] ' '209,' '212,' '215,' 247 

Death Valley 85, 158 

Decadence of the Art 226 

Deer Designs 210, 212 

De la Cour Corroll 251 

Designs, 113, 130, 131, 174, 187 et seq., 206, 
234, 240, 241, 247, 269. 

" Diverse meanings of 206 

Mixed 216 

" Poetic 217 et. seq. 

Diamond Design 212, 215 

Dice Baskets 185 

Dieguinos 61, 159, 161 

Difficulties in Collecting 251 

Diggers 57 

Dixon, R. B 187, 211, 212, 213, 234, 240 

Dragon Fly Design 211 

Dsiltlani 24 

Duck's Wing Design 211, 235 

Dyes SS et. seq. 



Earthworm Design 534, 235 

Echinocactus 85 

Eel River 55, 170, 171 

Egyptian Baskets Ill 

Elk Design 212 

Elymus Triticoides 79 

Emporium, Carson City, Nev 250 

Eskimo 15, 167, 169 

Evening Lamp 187 

Everybody's Magazine 257 

Evolution of Art 200 

Eye Design 236 

F 

Farrand, Livingstone, 187, 189, 200, 210, 211, 

212, 215, 216. 

Fear in Designs 241 

Feather Design 238 

Feathers 74, 90, 104, 138, 139 

" Dance and Chant 27 

Fence Design 216 

Fern Design... 210, 211, 212, 237 

Fewkes, Dr J. W 42, 44, 63, 187, 247 

Field Columbian Museum 225 

Fir 79 

Fish, Weir 146, 147 

Fish Trap Design 179 

Fish Design 212, 215, 234 

Flonhos 55 

Flounder Design 215 



Page. 

Flower Design 211, 212, 237 

Fly Design 211 

Forehead Pad 155 

Fort Tejon 251 

Foster 162 

Fresno River 59 

Fresno Indians 254 

Fret Design 244 

Fret (See Greek) 

Frohman Coll 258 et seq. 

Function of Baskets (See Uses) 

G 

Gallinuomers 57 

Garotero Apaches 175, 177 

Gathering Crates 159 

Wands 156, 179 

Gathering Information 267 

Geese Design ..211, 235 

Geometric Design 195, 201 

Ghost Dance 93 

Granaries 144, 16S, 186 

Grasshopp er Design 236 

Greek Fret 116, 199, 201, 202, 203 

Grosse 200 

Gualalas 53, 57 

H 

Hadruya 83 

Haidas....50, 51, 111, 128, 181, 183, 185, 262, 263 

Hariot 147 

Hartt's Theories 199, 201, 202, 203 

Harvesting Wand 179, 181 

Hasjelti Dailjis 33 

Hats 178, 183, 185 

"H. H." 220 

Havasupais, 17, 29, 39, 50, 61, 72, 73, 85, 89, 
109, 116, 120, 121, 157, 158, 162, 165, 166, 167, 

203, 205, 206, 208, 209, 215, 230, 250. 
Havasupai Baskets, 39, 41, 83, 84, 120, 212, 

213. 

Havasupai Legends 29, 30 

Havasupai (Yumans) 8 

Hazel 79, 96 

Head Bands 154, 155 

Heart Baskets 188, 193 

Heat Wave Design 215 

Hemp 79 

Herring Bone Finish 109, 250, 269 

Hill Collection 256, 259 

Hill, Thomas 47 

Hints to Collector 230 

Hints to Collectors 276 

Hoapuh 28 

Hoddentin 113 

Hodge, F. W 113, 234 

Holder, C. F 84 

Holmes, W. H., 18, 119 et. seq., 170, 187, 

204, 211. 

Homolobi 44 

Hoochnoms 170, 171 

Hopi, 50, 59, 61, 73, 74, 84, 85, 88, 89, 94, 112, 

114, 120, 126, 135, 137, 141, 153, 155, 161, 162, 

164, 175, 194, 211, 213, 215. 
Hopi Baskets, 38, 39, 40, 63, 65, 83, 84, 108, 

113, 114, 120, 140, 142, 152, 153, 161, 162, 172, 

210, 244, 246, 259. 

Hopi Legends 28 

Hopi Snake Dance 42 

Hopland 80 

Ho-put 259 

Hu-ah 259 

Hudson, J. W., 55, 80, 89, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 

102, 103, 105, 156, 191, 206, 213, 225, 227, 247, 

251, 259. 

Hugo, Victor 196 

Human Figures 131, 140, 188, 210 

Hupas .-..53, 72, 79, 151, 155, 157 



272 



INDEX (CONTINUED). 



Pa?e. 



Idaho Baskets 77 

Ideography 19 i 

Imbricated Weave 266 

Imitation 192, 197, 198, 213 

Indian Hemp ! 80 

Interlacing- Strands 130 

Inyo Co 2C9 



Jackson, James 13, 75 

James, G. W 145, l r 

Japan 75 

Jattalouisa 107 

Judas 249 

Juncus 84 

K 

Kabiapeks 57 

Kah-hoom SO, S3, S9 

Kah-lal SO 

Karok 53, 100 

Katchina 244 

Kathak 162, 179, 259 

Kauiags 51 

Kaweah 57, 59 

Kawawohl 146 

Ka-win 90 

Kern 59 

Kern Co. Weavers 247, 250 

Kern River 250 

Kernville 2 1 

Kesega 261 

Kiah S3 

King's River 59 

Kinniki 26 

Kiamaths 53 

Baskets 77, 127, 13S, 169 

Klikitats....53, 76, 89, 100, 1S9, 202, 263, 263 

Kohonino (See Havasupai) 39, 44, S9 

" Basin 31 

Ko-kyan-wuh-ti .42 

Konkau 537 

Kowlitz 53 

Kuchyeampsi 109, 11? 

Ku-tsou 259 

I. 

Lakone Manas 43 

Lalakonti 42 et. seq. 

Lake Design 160, 210, 211, 214, 215 

Las Cruces 63 

Leaf Design 213 

Legends 22 et. sea. 

Light Ascending Design 215 

Lightning Design. .. .38, 39. 160, 206. 213, 241 

Lillooet Indians 79, 149 

Lit Weave 99 

Lolonkuhs 55 

Lone Pine 209 

Los Coyotes 59 

Lucero, Pedro 206 

Luisenos 59, 61 

Lummis Indians 53 

M 

Machelle, Mrs 266 

MacMurray 22, 93 

Maiden Hair Fern (See Pern).... 82, 83, 212 

Maidu 57, 1S7, 211, 234 

Majal. Gregoria 105 

Makahs 51, 179, 181, 1S2, 183, 184 

Makhelchels 57 

Makushin 261 

Mallery, G 90 

Mamzrau .46 

Maricopas ^.50, 61, 63, S5, 116, 166 



Pa°"e 

Martynia 72, 85, lo7 

Mashonganavi 42, 112, 244, 247, 259 

Mason, Otis T. 13, 73, SO, 85, 88, 96, 97, 101, 

102, US, 126, 143, 161, 169, 172, 267. 

Matthews, Washington 23, 33, 37, 110 

Materials Used 72 et. sea. 

Mattoals 55 

Mayas 93 

McArthur, PI. K 77 

McCloud River Baskets, 73, 136, 152, 155, 156 
McLeod Collection.. 1SS, 210, 224, 247 et seq. 

Mendocino Co. Indians 79, SO 

Menominis 67 et. seq., 93 

Mesa Grande 59 

Mehesey, E., Jr.'s Store 277, 278, 279 

Mescal Design 269 

Mescalero Apaches 50, 61, 63, 107, 215 

Mexican Work 137, 13S 

Milky Way 220 

Mil-lay..- 82, S3, 89 

Millipede Design 236 

Mission Indians 50, 59, 15S, 160, 161 

Miwoks 57, 151 

Mobi S5 

Modoks 57, 100, 149, 151 

Mohaves 160, 161 

Moki (See Hopi). 

Molson. Mrs. V. P 76 

Monachi Weavers 251 

Mo-noch-koot 259 

Monos 50, 54, 73, 20S, 251, 252 et seq. 

Mooney 91 

Mooney Fall 31 

Mooretown 237 

Mordants 88, 89 

Morongo 61 

Mountain Design, 160, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 

239, 244, 257. 

Mountain Grass S3 

Mountain Meadows 251 

Muckleshoots 53 

Murdoch 167 

Mush Basket 97 

N 

Natano (Hupas) .157 

National Museum 162, L±, 167, 170 

Natinesthani 26 

Natural Designs 213 

Navahoes. 50, 63, 72, 91, 94, 109, 110, 112, 120, 

160. 162, 167. 
Navahoes Ceremonials 33 et. seq., 94 

Legends 23 et. seq. 

Navahoes Sacred Baskets, 32, 33, 34, 214, 
215, 250. 

Wedding 35, 109 

Net Design (See Reda) 215 

New vs. Old Baskets 251 

New York Central Rv. Advt 275 

Nez Perces 79, 93 

Nishinam 57 

Niskwallis 53 

Nolasquez, Merced 60 

North Coast Basketry 97, 132, 13S 

Nubian Basket Ill 

Nu-cha-a-wai-i 59 

Nutka 51, 179 

O 

Oraibi 42. 63, 84, 112, 114, 135 

Oraibi Baskets, 65, 87. 112, 113. 114, 136, 137, 
140, 142, 152. 153, 244, 246, 259. 

Oregon Baskets 76 

Ornamentation 125 

Orvzopsis Membr 158 

Osier 74, 75 

Owakulti 44 

Oza 259 



INDEX (CONTINUED). 



273 



Page. 
P 

Pabichi 107 

Pad-di t . . . •. 84 

Painted Desert 72 

Paiuti, 50, 57, 59, 61, 72, 85, 107, 109, 110, 111, 
112, 115, 116, 153, 156, 157, 158, 160, 162, 167, 
175, 177, 178, 179, ISO, 181, 209, 210, 234, 241, 
246, 250. 

Paiuti Mntn., Kern Co., Cal 249 

Paiuti Water Bottle 33, 112, 160 

Palms 74 

Pan-American Exposition 241 

Panamint Indians 85, 158 

Panian Stock 155 

Papago 50, 84 

Patawats 55 

Pattern (See Design) 

Patwin 57 

Pauma 59, 105, 186 

Peach Springs 72 

Pendants on Baskets 129 

Pepper, G. H 36 

Peruvian Basket 124, 126, 131, 139 

Phallic Sign 216 

Phoenix 63 

Photographs of Weavers 267 

Pimas, 50. 61, 63, 85, 116, 134, 163, 172, 215, 241, 
243, 244, 246, 259. 
" Baskets, 32, 76, 84, 117, 133, lo4, 175, 176, 
214, 215. 

Pine Design 212, 237 

" Roots, etc : 84, 159 

Pitt River Indians 57 

Plant Design 212 

Plimpton Coll., 32, t>2, 56, 75, 78, 92 106, 117, 
188, 192, 206, 224. 

Poems in Baskets 187 

Point Barrow 167 

Point Belcher 167 

Pokagon, Simon 89 

Poma, 53, 55, 80, 89, 90, 96, hi, 99, 102, 103, 

104, 105, 156, 179, 210. 
Poma Baskets, 56, 78, 80, 94, 95, 97, 9S, 99, 
100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 148, 150, 156, 213, 214, 
247. 

Poma Designs 210 et. seq. 

Pond Design 212, 215 

Pop. Sc. Monthly 201 

Potlach Hats 262 

Potrero 59 

Pottawattomies 89 

Potter Valley 55 

Pottery and Basketry 17, 120 

Powell, J. W 153 

Powers, Stephen t>3, 59, 90, 170 

Prehistoric Basket-makers 13 

" Races 162 

Prunus dem 79 

Pshu-kan 94, 96 

Pteris Aquilina 237 

Pueblo Art 135 

Carrying Mats 163, 165 

Pottery 120 

Sleeping Mat 120 

Puget Sound 53 

Puyullups 53 

Pvramid Lake Indians 151, 152 

Q 

Qastceyelci 110 

Quail Design 210, 211, 235, 247, 257 

Queen Charlotte Islands 51 

Quinaielt 51, 191, 2:6 

R 

Raccoon Design 236 

Rainbow Design 215 

Rain Clouds 160, 214, 215 

Ramona 220 

Rattlesnake Design, 59, 201, 206, 210, 241, 
254, 257, 259, 263. 



-d j Page. 

Re <la 146, 158, 160, 215, 216 

Reindeer Design 212 

Redbud 75, 82, 83, 84 

Red Rock 63 

Reticulated Weave 128 

Rhu s 74, SO, 82, S4,"l07 

Rincon 59 

Roasting Tray J80 

Russian River so 



Saboba, 49, 61, 145, 186, 206, 210, 212 214 216 
217, 218. 

Saboba Legends 218 

Salish 51, „3, 181, 187, 198, 206," 207," 208 

" Designs 2 10 et. seq. 

Salmon River 53 

Salsberry, Mrs. N. J i 90 



Salix. 



.85, 99 



San Carlos Apaches 63, 107,' 116 

San Felipe ' ' 59 

'San Jacinto Mntn ' 269 

San Luis Rey 69 

Santa Rosa ........61 

Ysabel .".".'61,' "lS6 



.75 



Sauvis 

Saxidomus Gracilis go 

Scirpus 82 

Scrolls iyy 

Seymour, Allen ' _4g 

Seed Baskets jgg 

Seed Wands jsg 

Se-eel §4 

Se-e-let 84 

Seminole Baskets .115, 126 

Serpent Design ...212 

Shahaptian 53, 93, 2 63 

Shamans 210 

Shastas 79 §9 

Shaveheads 261 

Shimopavi .".'42,' 112 

Shipapu.. 37/ no 

Shipauluvi 42, 94, 112 

Shoshonean 167, 160 241 

Shi-Bu Weave, 97, 100, 101, 103, 104, 211,' 247 
24^. 

Shi-lo Weave 103 

Shi-tsin 102 

Shu-ba 96 

Shu-set Weave 98, 101 

Sia Basket 84 

Siam 74, 154 

Siamese Baskets 153 

Sidaru 167 

Sierra Nevada 53 

Siwash 218 

Slough ^-rass SO 

Skagits 53 

Skokomish 53, 264, 267 

Smohalla 93 

Snake Dance 30 et. seq., 59 

" Maidens 30 

Snake (See Rattlesnake) 

Snake Design 241 

Snohomish 53, 83 

Soap-weed 75 

Southern Pacific Co 251 

South Sea Islands 241 

Spanish Bayonet 75 

Influences 119 

Spider-web Design. 113, 211 

Spider Woman 29, 39 

Sporobulus 75, 84 

Spruce Root 74, 79 

Squaxin 53 

Squaw Grass 76, 77 

Squaw Weed 85 



274 



INDEX (CONTINUED). 



Page. 

St. Andrew's Cross 250 

Star Design 215, 216, 220 

Stevenson, Dr. James 162, 166 

Stiletto 85 

Stitches (See Weaves). 

Stream Design 213, 214, 215 

Sueda Diffusa 84 

Sulim 84 

Sumach 82, 85 

Sunset Mag 251 

Surface Effects 126 

Swamp Ash 75 

SwastiKa 63, 116, 175, 214, 244 

Sycuan 61 

Symbolism, 114, 187 et. seq. (See Designs) 

T 

Tatus 55 

Tawapa 42 

Teit 72, 79, 14/, 193, 206 

Tehachipi 57 

Tejon, Fort 57, 59, 61 

Temecula 59, 158, 160 

Tenaskots 53 

Tennessee Pottery 129 

Tlinkits 50, 79 

Thuja Gigantea 79 

Thompson River Indians, 51, 72, 79, SO, 100, 

147, 149, 193, 200, 206. 20S, 210, 264, 267. 

Thunder Bird 247 

Ti Weave 96, 97, 101 

Tierra del Puego 75 

Timpekah 101 

Tinne 72, 167 

Tiyo 28 

Tochopa 31 

Tolowas 53 

Torres 61 

Trail Design 210, 239 

Traveler, The 46, 145, 187 

Tree Design 212 

Trinity River 53 

Tsai Weave 102, 103, 104 

Tsa-wam Weave 103 

Tsu-wish 82, S3 

Tulares 50, 209 

Baskets 57, 59, 200, 209, 211 

Tularosa 63 

Tule River Reservation, 57, 59, 84, 133, 144, 

201, 228, 249. 

" Root 82, 85 

Tusayan (See Hopi) 85 

Tusjeh 112, 160, 259 

Twenty-nine Palms 61 

[J 

Ukiah 55 

Umatillas 79 

Unicorn Plant 85 

Uses of Baskets, 121 et. seq., 145 et. seq., 

164. 
Ute Baskets, 84, 98, 151, 152, 160, 17S,. 179, 213. 

Uuyot 218 

Valley Designs 160, 212, 214, 215 

"Vegetable Design 212 

Viards 56 

Vilfa 75, 84 

Vine Design 212 

" Maple 75 

W 

Wah 259 

Wailakki 55 

Wainwright Coll 221 

Weitspek . . . , 53 

Wallapai 50, 67, 72, 206, 214 

Baskets 66 



Page. 

Walpi 42, 94, 162 

Wampum 83, 90 

Wanamaker Collection 257 

Wappos 57 

Warm Springs Indians 267 

Warner's Ranch 59 

Wascos 79, 189 

Washoes, 50. 61, 115, 116, 157, 159, 214, 24S, 250 

Washington Weavers 54, 55, 79 

Water Bottles 27, 33, 160, 161, 259 

(See Tusjen and Havasupai.) 

Water Designs 212, 213, 215 

Wave Designs 212 

Wawona 259 

Weaves 72. 96 et. seq. 

Weaves, Bam-Tca 103 

Bam-Tsu-Wu 103, 104 

Bam-Tush 95, 96 

Coiled 132, 162, 163 

" Diagonal 123 

" Fineness of 105, 10<, 115 

Herring Bone 109 

Lit 99 

Pshu-Kan 94, f6 

Pshu-tsin 96 

Reticulated 128 

Shi-bu 97, 104 

Shi-lo 103 

Shi-tsin 102 

Shu-set 98, 99 

Simple 122 

Ti 96, 97, 98, 99 

Tsai 103, 104 

Twined 123 

" Wrapped 161 

Whirlwind Design 203, 205 

White Mtn. Apaches 50, 61, 63, 107, 116 

Wi-chum-na 59, 208 

Wilcomb Coll 100 

Willamette Valley 77 

Willows... 72, 75, 77, SO, S3, 84, 85, 99 

Wilson, Dr 175, 214 

Winnemucca 110 

Wintuns 57 

Wiyots 55 

Women's Work 16 

Wood Basket 148 

Worm Track Design 211 

Wright, Mary Irvin 69 

Wu-u-shi 85, 112 

X 

Xerophyllum 76, 89 



Yakima 22, 53, 93, 121, 263 

Yakutat Baskets .260, 261 

Yeitso 24 

Yo-al-man-i 59 

Yo-er-kal-i 59 

Yokaias 55, 153, 156 

Yokuts, 50, 53. 57. 59, 61, 84, 107, 13S, 179, 206, 

208, 228, 247, 259, 261, 267. 
Yokut Baskets, 32, 58, 59, 61, 64, 80, S2, 92, 

133, 139, 170, 171, 1SS, 192, 209, 210. 

Yolo Basket 46, 47 

Yosemite 47 

Yucca 74, 75, 76, 84, 85, 165, 213 

Yuki 55, 239 

Yuman 159, 161 

Yuroks 53, 84, 100 



Zunis, 61, 89, 93, 94, 114, 115, 120, 149, 159, 161, 

162, 172, 173, 191, 197, 220. 
Zigzag Design 213 



"The Four-Track Series/ 1 



This is the title of a series of thirty-five books of travel and edu- 
cation issued by the Passenger Department of the 

NEW YORK CENTRAL 
& HUDSON RIVER R. R. 

These small books are filled with information regarding the best 
modes of travel, and the education that can best be obtained by 
travel, the whole world now agreeing with Lord Beaconsfield that 
"Travel is the great source of true wisdom." 

They relate specifically to the great resorts of America — to trips 
to the islands of the sea and around the world — giving a mass of 
useful information regarding the time required for a journey, its 
cost, and other particulars not easily obtained elsewhere. 

They also contain numerous illustrations and new and accurate 
maps of the country described. 

Any number of the "Four-Track Series" will be sent free, post-paid, 
on receipt of a postage stamp. A few of the more useful numbers 
are : 



No. 1 — The Luxury of Modern Rail- 
way Travel. 

No. 2 — The Railroad and the Diction- 
ary. 

No. 3 — America's Summer Resorts. 

No. 4 — Suburban Homes North of the 
Harlem River. 

No. 5 — America's Winter Resorts. 

No. 6 — The Adirondack Mountains. 

No. 7 — Three Ways to go to New 
York. 

No. 8— Two to Fifteen Days' Pleas- 
ure Tours. 

No. 9 — Two Days at Niagara Falls. 

No. 10 — The Thousand Islands. 

No. 11 — Race With the Australian 
London Mail. 

No. 13 — Urban Population in 1900. 

No. 14 — Bronx Park : Zoological and 
Horticultural Parks. 

No 15 — The Pan-American Express 
and Exposition. 

No. 16 — Illustrated Catalogue of the 
"Four-Track Series." 



No. 


20- 


-The Adirondack Mountains 
and How to Reach Them. 


No. 


21- 


-Round the World via Niagara 

Falls. 


No. 


22— 


-Saratoga the Beautiful. 


No. 


23- 


-Real Rapid Transit to Ninety 
Suburban Towns. 


No. 


25- 


-A Message to Garcia. 


No. 


26- 


-American Railroads. 


No. 


27- 


-Our Railroads and Our Can- 
als. 


No. 


28- 


-A New Map of Asia and the 
Chinese Empire. 


No. 


29- 


-Model Time Table Folder- 
Westward. 


No. 


30- 


-Model Time Table Folder- 
Eastward. 


No. 


31- 


-Seen from the Car. 


No. 


32- 


—Sailings of Ocean Steamships. 


No. 


33- 


-Center of the First City of the 
World. 


No. 


34 — To Ottawa, Ont., via the Ri- 






deau Lakes and River. 


No. 


35- 


—Historical Pilgrimages. 



The illustrated Catalogue, a booklet of forty pages, 4x8, giving a synopsis of 
the books now comprising the "Four-Track Series," as well as a small halt-tone 
reproduction of each of eight beautiful etchings of scenery along the line, will 
be sent free, post-paid, to any address in the world, on receipt of a postage 
stamp of any country on the globe, by George H. Daniels, General Passenger 
Agent, Grand Central fetation, New York. 



n Suggestion to Basket Collectors. 



Few basket collectors have time enough at their disposal to visit 
in person all the different Indian reservations and make their own 
selection of baskets. And even were the time at their disposal, such 
a plan is scarcely feasible or possible. For, in many instances, one 
might visit, at considerable expenditure of time, energy and money, 
a certain Indian reservation or camp, there expecting and antici- 
pating the pleasure of seeing the basket weavers at work, looking 
at a variety of baskets of different shapes, styles and weaves, and, 
after careful' inspection, making a selection. This is the theory of 
basket collecting some people hold, but, were they to seek to put 
it into operation, how contrary to fact would they find it to be. 
They might not find a single weaver at work, nor a completed speci- 
men on hand, and to wait for the finished baskets might require weeks 
or months of time. Hence, the collector who desires fine and rare 
specimens will commit the duty of selecting them to one who makes 
a business of it, and yet employs for the work only those who intelli- 
gently comprehend the subject, and who are capable of giving accu- 
rate information as to every specimen that passes through their 
hands. 

Such a dealer is Mr. E. Mehesy, Jr., of the Curio Store, opposite 
the Van Nuys Hotel, corner Fourth and Main Streets, Los Angeles, 
Calif., and the Knutsford, Salt Lake City, Utah. For many years he 
has made the intelligent collecting of Indian baskets and other curios 
an important branch of his large and increasing business. His as- 
sistants in the field are well versed in Indian lore. They understand 
the various methods of weave, and can wisely discriminate in the 
purchase of all baskets, whether new or old, submitted to them. 
They are purchasing in every field named by Mr. George Wharton 
James in the preceding pages of this work, and there are but few 
specimens there depicted that Mr. Mehesy cannot duplicate at any 
time, either from his large and varied stock, or from the collections 
now and again placed at his disposal, or, in the case of new baskets, 
by special manufacture. He is prepared, therefore, to make complete 
collections for his patrons, either by direct order, at his own selec- 
tion, or under the direction of any well-informed basket connois- 
seur. Baskets will be sent on approval to responsible parties. 



^£ 



SA.LT LAKE CITY, UTAH LOS ANGELES, CAL. 

Two Salesrooms, Hotel Knutsford Bldg-. Corner Fourth and Main Streets, 

Factory and Warehouses, Busby Opp. Van Nuys and Westminster Hotels 

Ave. 1615 Sq. Ft. Plate Glass Front 



E. MEHESY, Jr. 



DEALER IN 



INDIAN AND MEXICAN 



Blankets, Baskets and Relics 

UTAH AND CALIFORNIA 

Souvenir Goods and Curiosities 



Practical Furrier, Fur Dresser and Taxidermist 



Animal Fur Rugs and Game Heads a Specialty. Souvenir 
Spoons, Native Shell and Agate Jewelry 



THE LARGEST BUSINESS OF ITS KIND IN THE WORLD. 



3fK 



>> 



# * * mi * * * * * i* * fe * * & * # fc * * * * * * * 



i#fc*fe#fc*- 



SDecorate J^our IDen 

WE CARRY A COMPLETE LINE OF 

•• Indian Goods - 

AND GUARANTEE EVERYTHING TO BE AS REPRESENTED 




If you are interested in any kind of Indian ot Mexican 
Goods send as six cents in stamps and we will mail you a hand- 
some catalogue, finely illustrated with colored cuts of Navajo 
Blankets, Indian Baskets, etc. 

Our specialties are Navajo B lankets (carefully selected by 
our own buyer) , and BASKETS from all Western Indians, espe- 
cially the Apache and Pima, which we have in great variety. 
Tourists are invited to call at our store* and whether you come 
to buy or merely to look, you will be equally welcome. 

ORDERS SOLICITED FROM EVERYWHERE AND SATISFAC- 
TION GUARANTEED. 

"We refer with pleasure to the distinguished gentlemen whose names are 
found below. 

THE CURIO 

Phoenix, Arizona 

J. W. BENHAM <£<£ PAUL A. BRIZARD 

References: 

Hon. N. O. MURPHY, Governor, Phoenix, Arizona. 

Hon. CHAS. H. AKERS, Secretary, Phoenix, Arizona." 

COL. WM. CHRISTY, President Valley Bank, Phoenix, Arizona. 

C. J. HALL, Cashier Phoenix National Bank, Phoenix, Arizona. 

C. P. WILCOMB, Curator Park Museum, San Francisco. 

GILBERT B. SHAW, Vice-President American Trust & Savings 

Bank, Chicago. 
THOS. J. YARROW, Philadelphia. 

Hon. C. B. KNOX, Johnstown, N. Y. » 

GEORGE WHARTON JAMES, 171 Broadway, New York, and 

Pasadena, California. 



PHOENIX, * 

ARIZONA. * 



% 






